Summary
A suspect vandalized and set fire to Teslas at a Las Vegas Collision Center early Tuesday in what police call a “targeted attack.”
The assailant, dressed in black, shot at five vehicles, torched two, and left an undetonated Molotov cocktail. They also spray-painted “Resist” on the building.
Authorities have not confirmed a political motive but noted Elon Musk’s ties to Trump. The FBI is investigating, warning that such acts are federal crimes.
Tesla has faced backlash amid Musk’s government role and far-right politics.
The most fucked up part of this is the fact that the FBI is involved. I’m old enough to remember a time when someone vandalizing a few cars in a lot at 3 in the morning when nobody was around would be a local PD issue, and not the fucking FBI. Seems like it was only a couple of months ago… man, time flies.
Seriously, though - in a normal world, this would be far below the payroll of FBI agents. They would spend their time investigating terrorist organizations or child traffickers and bounce this shit back to LVMPD and tell Tesla to file an insurance claim. Instead, the head of the FBI is the lackey of the president, who owes his position to the billionaire that owns Tesla, and so now the FBI is serving as Elon Musk’s personal private investigators. It’s disgusting.
Well they don’t have to spend their issues on child trafficking anymore because the president supports it and has made extensive use of trafficked children.
And almost all of the domestic terrorist organizations support the government now, magically.
They just need something to do now singer crime is “solved” 🙃
Those times were 30 years ago as of tomorrow. Since Oklahoma, the FBI has been very interested in domestic political violence and terror.
the FBI has been very interested in domestic political violence and terror
Not super interested in the right wingers most of the time though
Some of those that work forces something something.
Actually 30 years ago as of a month and a day from now (April 19th, 1995). Still, there’s a huge fucking difference between a little light arson and parking a van packed full of explosives in front of a federal building. This is property damage, not terrorism.
It’s politically motivated property damage, which is terrorism. It starts with light arson, and when that doesn’t bring down the government, it escalates and before too long there’s a truckload of fertiliser outside the White House because someone doesn’t know when to stop.
It’s politically motivated property damage, which is terrorism
By that metric, you could also claim that defacing a political sign during election season is terrorism. Some terrorist drew a mustache on a billboard of one of the candidates in my district. Should the FBI investigate that, too?
The problem with your slippery slope argument is that it’s fucking stupid. You have to draw the line somewhere. If the FBI is going to investigate every time someone decides to huck a molotov cocktail at a nazimobile, they’re going to have their hands way too full to track down real crimes.
Property damage can sometimes be considered terrorism, depending on the intent, scale, and impact of the act. Many legal definitions of terrorism include serious destruction of property if it is intended to:
- Intimidate or coerce a population (e.g., setting fire to critical infrastructure to spread fear).
- Influence a government or international organization (e.g., bombing government buildings to force political change).
- Cause widespread disruption (e.g., cyberattacks on essential services).
Tesla dealerships are not critical infrastructure, government buildings or essential services.
It’s really a stretch to call this terrorism.
I wish we had someone who could look at government to cut waste, fraud and abuse, get those guys back on serious crime
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Trump isn’t happy unless he’s fucking someone over. Should people debase themselves to his level?
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I dunno I just see highly motivated consumers that want to kick the tires and light the fires on these bad boys before signing on the dotted line. It’s similar to how those patriotic tourists toured the capital on January 6th, 2021.
Property damage is not terrorism holy shit you’re actually putting material things on the same level as human lives.
Terrorism as defined by the FBI clearly defines property damage as terrorism.
Just because one can make up their own definitions of things, doesn’t obligate everyone else to subscribe to it.
The FBI’s long-standing definition of terrorism includes property damage.
Is blowing a railway bridge not terrorism? It’s just property. As is a water treatment plant. As is a nuclear power station.
The path of escalation to extremism is well attested to in history. For example, in Britain, the Suffragettes began by marching. Then chaining themselves to railings and slashing paintings. Then they threatened Jewish politicians as “enemies of the state”. Then they blew up mail boxes. Then they left bombs on trains. Then they tried to blow up dams to flood cities. Then they set a crowded theatre on fire to try to kill the Prime Minister, and to blow up a mail sorting office with the 200 employees in it. Many of the leaders of the WSPU later became high-ranking members of the British fascist movement, and some were detained for attempting to assist the Third Reich in infiltrating Britain.
The point is, where does the law step in to stop it? Since Oklahoma and certainly 9/11, the American doctrine has been to catch it early and prevent the higher cost attacks.
And it takes one attack that crosses the line to hand Trump his Reichstag Fire moment just like Bush had.
Because someone doesn’t know when to stop? I believe you stop when the government works for the people again, right? Just because you like what’s happening doesn’t mean the patriotic shouldn’t revolt.
This is being coordinated and cheered on by users on enormous online platforms. If there was one or two fires in a single city or even state then I’d agree the FBI probably wouldn’t even take a look.
However given the very public and national nature of these targeted events, they’re going to have a plausible excuse to investigate this as domestic terrorism.
I’m not endorsing the FBI, or calling this terrorism, just stating how it’s being handled by law enforcement.
That said, folks should know that even a small platform like Lemmy is crawling with glowies, be careful.
They should keep the FBI busy then…
Well. Using feds for vandalization is not a scalable solution
Most rad thing I’ve read this week. So far, at least.
I don’t know, are we sure the Tesla didn’t spontaneously combust? They’re known to do that. Wouldn’t want a manufacturing error pinned on an innocent person…
Guess they also shot themselves and pooped out a Molotov.
Well, they’re known for some very strange manufacturing issues. We can’t put it past them.
This doesn’t seem arson and vandalism to me. It’s clearly a Roman wildfire and Roman artwork. I don’t know why all these conservative snowflakes think that every drop of paint and fire at a Tesla dealership is a politically motivated attack. The paint and fire are clearly autistic, and just acting in the heat of the moment.
Honestly, it would be funnier if someone sprayed them with muriatic acid. (Hydrochloride acid)
The damage to the metal is not fixable (as in, the rust can be cleaned away, but the damaged areas just keep re-rusting). It avoids the issue of insurance payments (just clean it, bro), and of burning the vehicles (releasing pollution). It basically marks the car for life, makes it unsellable, and, full offense, if someone buys one, they deserve a lifetime of annoying maintenance issues. Fuck their gleaming monument to fascism.
Ehhhh, that makes it a chemical terrorist attack. If it’s not classified as that now, it will be the first time it’s tried. Plus that’s significantly more dangerous than a Molotov or a gun.
I’ve seen too many Molotov Gone Wrong videos to agree with you.
Lol amateurs. After your first emulsion incident you learn pretty quick
You know, when I envisioned this, I imagined some person with a 5-gallon sprayer, like they use for yards/pesticides. I sort of assumed they’d be doing it alone, with no one around, and (presumably) with some knowledge/awareness of how those sprayers work - so like, protective clothing, a mask, goggles, and being upwind. But you’re right that it’s dangerous despite all that. And it’s sort of an obvious thing to be carrying around.
New mental picture of this activity: Jars that have been safely filled at home thrown from a distance while no one else is around.
Or for discretion, a tide pen that has had the contents replaced. Bonus: It will still remove stains (and the fabric).Ultimately, however, it’s not something I’d actually entertain. I don’t see that as an effective outlet for any statement I’d like to make. Surely not for the risk/reward proposition. But it’s darn funny to think about.
Yeaaaa I was thinking melting hands and faces from back spray lol. Wait, will hydrochloric acid react to plastic? If not you’d need a glass paint pen. Also we’re both on watchlists now :) shit…
Disclaimer. Don’t actually do any of this. But yes it would be a silly skit on adult swim or something.
That’s sort of the funny thing - I think my experience/exposure to muriatic acid sort of colored how cavalier I am about it. I didn’t check precise concentrations, but a gallon can be had for $10 from a hardware store. I’ve seen guys just pour it on the floor, slosh it around with a mop, and seem to have no care whatsoever about incidental skin contact or getting it on their shoes. (They did wash their hands after, but seemed unhurried to do so.)
Not that I’m advising cavalier behavior with hydrochoric acid, but perhaps I have a shifted baseline for understanding the caution one should take. (I mean - I’ve never worked directly with it myself, so…iunno.) Also very possible the products I’ve seen are a lower concentration than the ‘bubbling, foaming, melting your face’ concentrations of HCL we might otherwise expect.
It does come in a plastic bottle - HDPE, I believe, so I think a standard paint pen would work for it. Provided the wicking material was not organic, it would probably survive just fine.
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Teslas aren’t selling, but playing the victim, pointing the finger, AND collection insurance? Even better.
I’m sure a few radicals are out there vandalizing a Tesla or two, but I don’t believe for a second this isn’t insurance fraud with a bonus of labelling people who speak out against you as domestic terrorists.
The “RESIST” graffiti is a dead giveaway; people with Fox-addled brians don’t understand the difference between liberals and anarchists (the way insurance adjusters do)
Elon bought the cars in Canada and people figured it out. Now he has no other option than to make organized arson to claim insurance and recoup his losses.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
fuck yeah
Smokin’ hot Luigi vs stone cold Luigi
Hell yeah, cleanse the filth with the holy flame!!!
Burning Teslas is stupid and wasteful. All this does is get Elon a free check from the insurance company.
Protesting and stigmatizing buying a Tesla works better.
Fuck being “wasteful”. It makes consumers think twice about buying one, which is the actual intended consequence.
Elope doesn’t care about the insurance payout on a handful of undelivered units. Theres been like <30 cars burnt so far. Manufacturers lose hundreds of vehicles to random damage and acts of god every year.
But the brand damage and resulting tens of thousands of lost sales caused by consumers seeing this and thinking “I may be a target if I buy this car”… THAT makes a dent in the bottom line, and is market pressure working as intended.
Also can impact the insurance rates - https://www.newsweek.com/tesla-insurance-costs-could-surge-amid-anti-elon-musk-vandalism-2044675
No, it bring attention to him being a shitbag. Burn them all down.
Protesting and stigmatizing buying a Tesla works better.
Maybe if you are are someone who expects change to just magically “appear” and for the system to simply correct itself so that they can go back to consuming.
Protest without the ultimate threat of force behind it is a parade.
Steal them and strip them for their batteries and parts instead.
Protest without the ultimate threat of force behind it is a parade.
I’ve never heard it worded this way, before, but it sums up something that has been bothering me about modern protests: they are parades.
Protest is supposed to be disruptive
Eventually, it might make Teslas uninsurable.
Nothing is free with insurance, they just add it to your future bills.
Exactly. If they weren’t going to sell, and signs are pointing that they aren’t, then the vandalizing is just giving them money via insurance as stated.
And leave the people alone that already had Tesla’s prior to Musk going mask-off. They were trying to be part of the solution (moving to EVs) and there’s no reason to harass/attack/vandalize them.
But definitely point and laugh at anyone going out and buying a Tesla now.
It raises the price they have to pay thousands of other teslas, and if it happens enough, insurance will drop them. Insurance companies don’t want to pay out, and they will pull coverage when it becomes too expensive for them to insure.
I just came across this relevant article this morning.
“If vandalism involving Tesla vehicles continues to rise and doesn’t go back down, we could see rates rise for comprehensive coverage in the future,” he said.
Martin explained that when carried, vandalism is covered by the comprehensive portion of an auto policy. While vandalism claims typically don’t increase insurance rates as much as collision claims, they can impact rates, she explained.
Martin added: “Since the recent rise in vandalism is focused on Teslas and not other make vehicles, drivers who carry Tesla Insurance may see a higher premium hike than those who have coverage with other carriers, since the risk of loss isn’t as diversified.”
Absolutely. Insurance companies are in the business of not paying insurance claims. They’re not in the business of just wantonly giving out money. If they pay out to a client often enough, they drop that client. It’s even worse for the insurance companies, cause the cars haven’t even depreciated in value yet, they’re still on the lot and unsold. Their retail value is set, and every swasitruck that burns, is another $100k payout. Insurance companies will only pay out so many times before their risk assessment team says it’s not worth it.
And once you’re dropped from one company cause you’re a high risk, every other insurance provider raises their rates for you, or they refuse because they don’t want the loss.
Burn enough swastikars and there’s no insurance, and that’s when you start to literally burn his money.
Be that as it may, you’re not going to get me to even tacitly endorse arson. Sorry not sorry.
I’m prefacing this clearly; I’m not endorsing anything here.
The current regime is restricting healthcare, trying to legislate people out of existence, and straight up disappearing people. Suffragettes torched and bombed.
That’s great.
Nobody cares if you gasp at the sight of protest outside of the designated protest area . Just like nobody cares if you disapprove of a picket line blocking a road because how dare they.
Like what is the end goal here put Tesla out of business? Does anyone believe this would hurt Elon? Say Tesla went bankrupt, so now Elon musk would be worth $230 billion instead of $330 billion. He would live his life exactly the same but now thousands of normal people are underwater on their cars. How is this “winning”?
What am I missing here?
TSLA market cap $766B. That’s a nice loss, if it could be achieved.
Besides, what you’re missing is quite obvious: the only thing that musk understands is fear. Make your own inferences.
You understand that he only ownes 10 or 15% of Tesla. The majority of that is probably held by index funds and other peoples 401ks. So again normal people would loose a lot of money.
If Tesla went bankrupt it would literally be a drop in the bucket for Musk. Also what would he fear? He can pay for his own boat or literal island and security. Saying people should go after musk vs go after anyone who drives a Tesla is very different.
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I don’t give a fuck how much he owns. The point is to hose all the fat fucks and to brand him as toxic. And to familiarize those assholes with urgent dread.
$TSLA is a huge, bloated bubble filled with nothing but hype. If they were treated by the market as just a regular old car company (like Ford [$F] or General Motors [$GM]), their market cap would be a tiny fraction of what it is currently. Their market cap at the closing bell today is $724 billion, with a stock price of $224 per share. Compare that to Ford (which has more than twice Tesla’s yearly global sales figures) with a market cap of $39.4 billion and a stock price of $10 / share. Or to GMC (which has sales figures about 60% higher than Tesla’s) at a market cap of $48.4 billion and a stock price of $49 / share.
If Tesla’s stock was valued based on their actual business instead of investor hype driven by mind-boggling adoration for their CEO, their market cap would probably be around $20 billion, which with their current number of outstanding shares, would put the price at around $6.20 per share.
Ok, so you might throw out the fact that Tesla also sells batteries and has their hands in AI and other things. Those are all very small parts of their overall yearly business, but the market is also based on future expectations. Let’s say that a fair price for their stock would be maybe $10 / share. $12 at the absolute most.
It’s at $224 per share today. In December of last year, it hit a high of $480.
$TSLA is the modern version of the Dutch tulip market in the 1630s. Its perceived value bears absolutely zero resemblance to its actual value. You’re worried about investors losing their shirts on this, but this shit has been vaporware from the beginning. Anybody who based their investment strategy around Tesla’s stock has been playing roulette. Am I supposed to feel bad about them losing because they bet on black instead of red?
Musk’s purchase of Twitter was backed by Tesla stock. If the stock tanks enough, that bill comes due.
No it doesn’t that not how it works ugh…
We’re in this whole mess because people don’t think through their words and actions. Anyone advocating blindly going after anyone with a Tesla then you’re really no better then Musk.
On that note do I have the answers on how to fix this mess, no, but I know it’s not this.
Spoken like a true Enlightened Centrist.
That is how it works in this case. Musk took loans backed by the value of his TSLA holding as collateral in order to fund his part of the twitter purchase. Value of TSLA drops enough, those loans get called.
https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/elon-musk-faces-margin-call-on-loan-used-to-purchase-twitter
https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/25/23141940/elon-musk-tesla-twitter-margin-loan-buyout-deal
I don’t know if we have enough visibility into how much he’s currently margined to know when he’s at risk of getting called again, but it doesn’t seem realistic to think that he’s not currently margined.
Basically people pissed off and need an outlet for that but can’t see the forest for the trees. 🤷♂️
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If this keeps up, no insurance company will insure Teslas anymore. I’m fairly sure the prices for that have already gone up and will continue to do so. It’s a high-risk asset now.
Elon doesn’t get anything. Well unless the troglodyte having his Tesla just burned down goes out and buys another in hopes this one won’t combust or see him on the wrong side of a mob.
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They also spray-painted “Resist” on the building.
Authorities have not confirmed a political motive
PFFFFFT
Republicans warned us for years that EVs aren’t safe and can just explode at random 🤷.
Oh no. Tesla burning their own cars.
Love seeing this hurting FElon. I just hope people are checking these cars before the battery spontaneously combusts to ensure nobody is sleeping in one we don’t want to give them any reason to turn this into a bigger deal by having a murder involved.
