Austin, Texas, police recovered multiple incendiary devices at a Tesla dealership as protests and vandalism directed at Tesla vehicles and CEO Elon Musk escalate nationwide. Officers responded just after 8 a.m. Monday to a report of suspicious devices at a dealership in and called the department’s bomb squad to investigate. The devices were deemed incendiary and confiscated safely, USA Today reports. The episode remains under investigation but adds to a growing list of incidents nationwide described as "domestic terrorism" by Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has vowed to prosecute offenders. On Thursday, the Justice Department accused three individuals of using Molotov cocktails to set Tesla vehicles or charging stations afire in Oregon, Colorado and South Carolina.
Two days earlier, someone set five cars on fire at a Tesla service center in Las Vegas and spray-painted the word “resist” in red on the facility in what police called a targeted assault. Frustration has been growing among Musk’s critics over his work through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the Trump administration effort to slash the federal workforce. Tesla stock had seen its stock plummet by more than 50% since December as of last Thursday, but the company has made gains in recent days. Still, tensions have boiled on both sides. This weekend, police in Florida arrested 44-year-old Andrew Dutil, accused of driving an SUV into a crowd of protestors outside a Tesla dealership. Dutil, of suburban West Palm Beach, is being held without bail on one count of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The incident took place at a dealership near the Florida Turnpike, where about a hundred demonstrators were picketing against DOGE’s federal cutbacks when witnesses said a black Nissan SUV drove onto the curb, nearly striking several protesters.
An employee of the dealership said Dutil walked into the business and said he supported Tesla.
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