U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she intends to seek a 20-year prison sentence against a Colorado man accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership.
Cooper Jo Frederick, 24, was arrested in Fort Collins earlier this month on suspicion of throwing an incendiary device between two vehicles outside a dealership in nearby Loveland on March 7.
It was one of a spate of recent incidents in which Tesla vehicles or buildings — not just in the USA, but also abroad — have been vandalized, defaced with Nazi symbols, or set ablaze, apparently in protest against Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration.
Bondi has vowed to treat these attacks as “domestic terrorism”, while Musk and Trump have both claimed without evidence that the incidents were coordinated. So far, no one appears to have been hurt in such incidents.
“I’ve made it clear: if you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you, and put you behind bars,” Bondi said on Musk’s social network X on Monday as she announced federal charges against Frederick.
“All of these cases are a serious public threat to public safety. Therefore, there will be no negotiating; we are seeking 20 years in prison…
“Let this be a warning: you can run, but you cannot hide. Justice is coming.”
As well as Frederick, federal prosecutors have charged 42-year-old Lucy Grace Nelson with trying to use Molotov cocktails to light Teslas on fire in Loveland.
Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, is accused of throwing eight Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon, while armed with a suppressed semi-automatic rifle.
A third individual, Daniel Brendan Kurt Clarke-Pounder, allegedly “wrote profane messages against President Trump” and lit Tesla charging stations on fire in Charleston, South Carolina.
Despite Musk’s claims, law enforcement officials and terrorism experts have said that there is no evidence so far that the attacks are coordinated.
Meanwhile, crowds of peaceful protesters gathered outside Tesla buildings across the nation on Saturday, aiming to “tank Tesla’s stock price to stop Musk”. Protest organizers stressed that they “oppose violence, vandalism, and destruction of property”.
Musk’s fervent support for Trump and his role in slashing budgets and shutting down U.S. government programs without authorization from Congress have made him a lightning rod for criticism across the political spectrum.
“Kill Tesla, save the country,” wrote anti-Trump Republican Rick Wilson in a blog post calling for “peaceful protests”, after which he was quickly banned from X.
“Tesla is no longer just a car company; it’s a bank for fascists, a goose-stepping hedge fund bankrolling the political fever dreams of Elon Musk and DOGE,” Wilson said.
“Pressure on Tesla is pressure on Musk. Break Tesla’s stock, and you start to break Elon’s ability to bankroll authoritarian fantasies…and if that kneecaps Trump in the process, well, boo-hoo.”