Utah governor warns Tesla vandals ‘We will arrest you’
Katie McKellar
(Utah News Dispatch) Amid a spike in Tesla vandalism across the U.S. as Elon Musk oversees the new Department of Government Efficiency’s aggressive cuts to federal spending, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox had a biting message for Musk’s critics who resort to property damage.
“I would just say, you’re not helping your cause — at all,” Cox said during his monthly PBS Utah news conference on Thursday. “If you want to lose the popular opinion, just start setting people’s vehicles on fire. It’s inexcusable, it’s stupid, and it’s evil. And we will arrest you.”
Numerous peaceful protests have been organized in and outside of Utah to protest President Donald Trump empowering Musk to command DOGE. But there has also been an uptick in cases in multiple states of vandalism targeting Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.
Cybertrucks have been set on fire in Seattle. In Colorado, a woman was charged last month in connection with attacks on Tesla dealerships, including Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray-painted on the building. In Las Vegas, several vehicles were set ablaze at a Tesla service center on Tuesday with Molotov cocktails, and at least three gunshots were fired into the cars, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
There haven’t been any high-profile attacks in Utah — but local media has reported some Utah owners of Cybertrucks or other Tesla-made vehicles feeling on edge and experiencing some cases of vandalism.
Orem Police reported in a since-removed Facebook post that a Cybertruck was keyed from front to back, KSL Newsradio reported this week. And one Utah woman spoke to KSL TV about experiencing “targeted hostility” ever since she bought her Cybertruck last summer, and that recently someone put a profane sticker on her truck.
Recently, in Bountiful, Utah News Dispatch spotted a Tesla Model X with a bumper sticker that read: “Bought it before we knew how awful he is.”
Cox, when asked about the protests and vandalism, told reporters on Thursday that he’s a supporter of peaceful protests, but he condemns acts that break the law.
“People should protest to their heart’s content — and they should be imprisoned for any property damage or breaking of any laws,” he said. “We’ve proven that here in Utah, that we will hold people responsible for any type of property damage.”