Attorney General Pam Bondi announced Thursday that individuals accused of destroying Tesla property will face “severe charges” carrying potential 20-year prison sentences if convicted.
The charges follow a series of attacks where suspects allegedly hurled Molotov cocktails at Tesla vehicles and dealerships and vandalized charging stations nationwide — an apparent response to CEO Elon Musk’s federal streamlining initiative, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Department of Justice (DOJ) specifically targeted three suspects accused of arson and graffiti against Tesla properties across Oregon, Colorado and South Carolina.
“The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended,” Bondi said in a press release. “Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
Among the defendants are Adam Lansky, 41, who allegedly threw Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership, fired a weapon into an unspecified building and at least one vehicle in Salem, Oregon, during separate incidents in January and February, according to the DOJ. Lansky allegedly masquerades as a woman named “Allison Tesla” on his X account, which primarily features transgender pornography.
Another is 42-year-old Justin Thomas Nelson, or “Lucy,” a second biologically male transgender accused of igniting a Molotov cocktail next to a Cybertruck at a dealership in Loveland, Colorado, in January. Investigators discovered additional incendiary materials in his car after police received a report of the word “Nazi” spray painted on a Tesla dealership sign during a second incident in February, federal prosecutors said.
The third defendant, 24-year-old Daniel Clarke-Pounder, is accused of scrawling “Fuck Trump” and “long live the Ukraine” on EV charging stations in Charleston, South Carolina, before igniting them with Molotov cocktails, according to the DOJ.
The Daily Caller News Foundation previously reported that three of four alleged Tesla vandals apparently identify as transgender or nonbinary. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Bondi is investigating the cases “as acts of domestic terrorism” in a White House press briefing Wednesday.
“The attorney general has made her comments clear on that — she is investigating these events as acts of domestic terrorism, and we fully condemn them. And as I said earlier … we think it’s despicable what is happening to not just this American company, but also their innocent employees. And again, innocent Americans who drive these vehicles. We condemn it wholeheartedly,” Leavitt told Daily Caller White House Correspondent Reagan Reese. The DOJ’s press release later said Bondi would prosecute the defendants with the “full force of the law.”
It is unclear exactly what charges each defendant currently faces, or where they are being held. The DOJ did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment.
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