The Federal Bureau of Investigation yesterday launched a task force “to try to nail the criminals setting fire to Tesla vehicles and charging stations,” and is looking into an anarchist blog that has been “calling for more” attacks, The New York Post reported.
“The bureau has received reports of 48 instances so far this month related to Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations and is investigating at least seven of them in conjunction with local law enforcement, The Post has learned,” the article said. “The agency’s newly formed 10-person task force will deploy ATF personnel—special agents and intelligence analysts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in the Treasury Department—and personnel from the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division, including its Domestic Terrorism Operations Section and Weapons of Mass Destruction.”
ATF is embedding personnel in some FBI field offices, starting in San Antonio, Texas, “where some of the Molotov cocktail attacks have been carried out,” the report said. There were previously three arrests. The FBI is reviewing security camera footage and gained access to cell phone location data in an attempt to find more culprits, the report said.
When contacted by Ars, an FBI spokesperson said, “We can confirm the establishment of a task force to investigate the incidents targeting Teslas.” The FBI said that Director Kash Patel “has been unequivocally clear: The FBI will be relentless in its mission to protect the American people. Acts of violence, vandalism, and domestic terrorism—like the recent Tesla attacks—will be pursued with the full force of the law.”
Patel shared the New York Post article in a post on X and confirmed that the agency “has been investigating the increase in violent activity toward Tesla, and over the last few days, we have taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate our response. This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice.”
The FBI defines domestic terrorism as “violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from domestic influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature.”
