Authorities are investigating a targeted attack at a Tesla service center in Las Vegas early Tuesday morning, where multiple vehicles were shot at and set on fire by an assailant who scrawled the word “RESIST” on the building.
Koren said officers responded to reports of gunfire at around 2:45 a.m. at a Tesla Collision Center on the 6000 block of West Badura Avenue and arrived to find multiple Tesla vehicles in flames. The word “RESIST” spray-painted on the building suggests a political motivation.
“This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility,” Koren said, adding that investigators do not believe there is any further threat to the general public.
Police have increased their presence at Tesla-related locations in the region in response. No arrests have been made.
Koren said at least five Tesla vehicles were damaged, two of them engulfed in flames. Investigators recovered an unignited Molotov cocktail from one of the vehicles, which is now being processed as evidence.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Spencer Evans confirmed that authorities are investigating similar incidents in other states.
“There’s been reports of attacks in multiple states, ranging from everything from graffiti and vandalism, to actual targeted attacks where people are using firearms, firebombing,” Evans said, adding that it is too early to determine if they are linked.
Tesla vehicles, showrooms, and charging stations have been targeted by acts of vandalism and violence recently, along with calls for a boycott and protests outside Tesla dealerships.
Such incidents come as Tesla has become a focal point of anger at CEO Elon Musk’s prominent role in the Trump administration. Musk, in his role as a special government employee, has led the Department of Government Efficiency’s (DOGE) push to slash government spending and cut the federal workforce, part of President Donald Trump’s effort to make government more efficient.
“Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks,” he said.
“I’m going to stop them,” Trump said on March 11. “We catch anybody doing this because they’re harming a great American company.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to hold accountable those responsible for Tesla-related attacks and acts of vandalism.
“We have people we’re locking up on that. We have someone in jail right now from one of the dealerships. They threw a Molotov cocktail through a dealership. They’re looking at up to 20 years in prison.”
Critics—including many Democrats—have accused Musk and DOGE of undermining essential government services and of planning to slash Social Security and cut health care benefits for seniors and low-income Americans.
Republicans have rejected such claims as political fear-mongering, and Trump has repeatedly said that he would not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits.
