Police are investigating a possible arson case at a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, Missouri after two Tesla Cybertrucks burned on Monday night.
The FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) are working together with the Kansas City Police Department to investigate the fires.
Police said an officer spotted a Cybertruck on fire at the dealership shortly before midnight on March 17. The officer tried to use a fire extinguisher before having to call the Kansas City Fire Department to assist as the fire spread to a second Cybertruck in the parking lot.
When firefighters arrived on scene, they found both Cybertrucks on fire before getting it under control. Both Cybertrucks were covered with a fire blanket to prevent the fire from reigniting and spreading to other vehicles.
According to ABC affiliate KMBC News, ATF said that the police department deemed the incident “suspicious in nature.”
A similar incident took place in Las Vegas at the Tesla Collision Center around 2:45 a.m. local time on March 18.
Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said officials received multiple calls on Tuesday night, including from a person who said they heard gunshots. Authorities said a suspect armed with a gun and Molotov cocktails launched a “targeted attack” on the Tesla location, firing shots and torching multiple vehicles.
“This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility, ” Koren told reporters during a press conference. “We do believe that it is isolated at this time. We do not believe there is further threat to the general public.”
The suspect wore all black and “at least five Tesla vehicles were damaged, two of which were engulfed in flames,” Koren added.
Koren said the attacker sprayed the word “RESIST” in all-caps in red spray paint on the collision centre’s door and one un-ignited Molotov cocktail was recovered from the scene.
“As a precaution, like we do in many of these incidents, we have increased our police presence, in particular at Tesla locations or any other Tesla related locations in the valley.”
Recent months have seen a slew of targeted acts against Tesla, ever since Musk was put in charge of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) by Trump shortly after he took office.
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Last week, four vehicles were set on fire in Germany in the Plänterwald and Steglitz neighbourhoods of Berlin. German police said that political motives could not be ruled out.
The first fire was reported just before 2 a.m. local time on March 14, and three other fires were alerted shortly after. German police say that while no one was injured, all four vehicles were damaged beyond use and nearby vehicles were also damaged.
On March 13, gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon for the second time in a week, causing extensive damage to cars and showroom windows, The Associated Press reported. A similar shooting happened a week before, on March 6, at the same location.
On March 8, footage captured during protests at a Manhattan dealership shows police removing a number of demonstrators from inside the premises, where glass doors had been shattered.
People also gathered outside the facility and could be heard chanting, “We need clean air, not another billionaire.”
A woman who identified herself on camera as “Frankie” while officers detained her said she was “getting arrested today for protesting Elon Musk.”
“He bought his way into office, he bought his way into heading a government agency, he bought his power at the expense of the American people, at the expense of our environment, at the expense of our world and all of the people in it,” the woman said.
Six people were arrested, five for disorderly conduct and one for resisting arrest, according to media reports.
Another video posted on Musk-owned social media platform X appeared to show nine NYPD officers protecting a single Cybertruck during the protest.
“Nine cops to protect one Cybertruck, amazing,” the person filming the video said.
In Toulouse, France, 12 Tesla vehicles were set on fire outside a dealership on March 5, destroying eight and severely damaging four. Authorities have since opened a criminal investigation.
The same day, seven Tesla charging stations at a mall in Littleton, Mass., about 60 km outside of Boston, were burned, causing heavy damage and sending up plumes of thick smoke.
In February, federal prosecutors charged a woman in connection with a string of vandalism against a Colorado Tesla dealership, which included Molotov cocktails being thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray-painted on the building.
The dealership estimated that several incidents of vandalism over the course of about a month caused between $5,000 and $20,000 in damages, with an estimated $5,000 in damage to the vehicles.
In January, following a post-inaugural speech where Musk made multiple Nazi salute-like motions, U.K.- and Germany-based activist groups projected a still image of the billionaire tech mogul mid-gesture alongside the words “Heil Tesla” onto the outside of the company’s Gigafactory in Berlin.
On March 10, Musk admitted he is having “great difficulty” running his businesses as he juggles his advisory role in Trump’s administration, leading DOGE.
In an interview on Fox Business Network’s Kudlow, former Trump administration official Larry Kudlow asked Musk about his “call to action” within the administration and how he’s managing to keep his companies running, including Tesla, SpaceX, Neuralink and X.
“How are you running your other businesses?” Kudlow asked.
“With great difficulty,” Musk responded.
Musk added that he is “trying to make government more efficient” and to eliminate waste and fraud.
“And so far, we’re making good progress, actually,” he said.
—With files from Global News’ Michelle Butterfield and The Associated Press
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