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.

  • .Donuts
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    1037 months ago

    Most rad thing I’ve read this week. So far, at least.

    • @arrow74@lemm.ee
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      337 months ago

      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…

  • @elbucho@lemmy.world
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    1037 months ago

    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.

    • JustEnoughDucks
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      267 months ago

      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” 🙃

    • @rockstarmode@lemmy.world
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      37 months ago

      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.

  • @alekwithak@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    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.

    • @the803@lemm.ee
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      167 months ago

      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)

    • @painfulasterisk1@lemmy.ml
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      157 months ago

      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.

  • @Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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    307 months ago

    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.

    • moving to lemme.zip.
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      157 months ago

      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.

      • @Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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        7 months ago

        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.

        • moving to lemme.zip.
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          7 months ago

          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.

          • @Monument@lemmy.sdf.org
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            27 months ago

            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.

  • @formergijoe@lemmy.world
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    157 months ago

    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.

  • @ThePantser@sh.itjust.works
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    97 months ago

    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.

  • @Demdaru@lemmy.world
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    47 months ago

    They also spray-painted “Resist” on the building.

    Authorities have not confirmed a political motive

    PFFFFFT