Elon Musk’s Tesla facilities have been the target of violent attacks following the billionaire’s role in Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to drastically cut federal spending. Protesters have also been angered by a Nazi salute-like sign Musk made on the same day Trump took office.
According to a report in the Washington Post, there have been more than a dozen violent or destructive attacks on Tesla facilities since Trump’s inauguration.
In one incident, a woman named Lucy Grace Nelson made several attempts to cause serious harm at the Tesla car lot in Loveland, Colorado. Over the course of 13 days starting on 29 January, Nelson threw a Molotov cocktail at a Cybertruck at the dealership, spray-painted the words “Nazi cars” and “F— Musk”, and returned four more times before being arrested by local police.
Meanwhile, Boston police on Monday revealed that more than half-dozen Tesla charging stations were intentionally set on fire near the city.
In yet another incident, Oregon police said (via NBC) that at least seven shots were fired at a Tesla dealership on Thursday morning that led to three cars being damaged and the shattering of windows.
Tesla’s economic woes:
The destruction at Tesla’s showroom comes at a time when the EV maker is also facing a growing loss of investor confidence, with its shares down more than 35 per cent since Trump’s inauguration.
Notably, Tesla shares were among the top gainers following Trump’s victory in the 5 November election on expectations that Musk’s close relationship with the new president would benefit the EV maker. However, with the recent drop, Tesla is on track to erase all of its $700 billion post-election gains, according to a Bloomberg report.
There are many reasons for the shaken investor confidence, starting with a report in January that showed Tesla’s sales fell for the first time in a decade last quarter. With Musk pushing for right-wing policies, some investors have become concerned that the billionaire is being distracted from his job as CEO of the EV maker. Meanwhile, Tesla cars are no longer seen as the symbol of environmentally conscious vehicles they once were, with customers increasingly seeing them as a representation of Musk’s far-right politics.
