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By Jesus Mesa and Gabe Whisnant
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Police in Austin, Texas, discovered "multiple incendiary devices" at a Tesla dealership early Monday morning, prompting a bomb squad response.
Officers from the Austin Police Department responded to a call about hazardous materials found at the Tesla dealership on North U.S. 183 Highway at 8:04 a.m. Upon arrival, officers located several suspicious objects and summoned the department's bomb squad to investigate.
Newsweek reached out to the FBI office in West Texas for comment.
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Why It Matters
The incident comes amid growing tension surrounding Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, who is leading the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) under President Donald Trump. Musk has been central to sweeping budget reforms that have included eliminating thousands of federal jobs, triggering significant unrest.
Attacks on property carrying the logo of the electric car company are cropping up across the United States and overseas. Several more violent incidents include Cybertrucks being set on fire in Seattle and shots fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement last week that the attacks are "nothing short of domestic terrorism."
What To Know
No injuries were reported in Monday's incident, and police have not yet identified any suspects or motives.
"On Monday, March 24, 2025, at approximately 8:04 a.m., Austin Police Department (APD) officers responded to a Found/Abandoned Hazardous call at the Tesla dealership located at 12845 N. US 183 Hwy SVRD NB. When officers arrived on scene, they located suspicious devices and called the APD Bomb Squad to investigate," the APD posted on social media.
"The devices, which were determined to be incendiary, were taken into police custody without incident. This is an open and ongoing investigation, and there is no further information available for release at this time."
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The investigation remains active. Authorities have not disclosed specifics regarding the devices or their potential impact.
The Austin incident comes days after a similar attack on March 18 in Las Vegas, where incendiary devices were used to set multiple vehicles on fire at a Tesla Collision Center. No arrests have been made in that case.
What People Are Saying
Elon Musk, in reaction to the protests against Tesla: "Tesla is a peaceful company; we've never done anything harmful, I've never done anything harmful; I've always done productive things. So there's some kind of mental illness thing going on because this doesn't make any sense."
President Donald Trump said that he would classify violence against Tesla as domestic terrorism: "I will do that. I'm going to stop them. Because they are harming a great American company. It's a great product, and we have to celebrate [Musk]."
What Happens Next
While police have not confirmed any connection between the Austin and Las Vegas incidents, investigators are considering the possibility of a coordinated campaign against Tesla and Musk.
In a statement published on March 21, the FBI said that the targeting of Tesla electric vehicles was "violent or malicious" and called on the public to have greater awareness of the issue.
Update 3/24/25, 2:10 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information.
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