Tesla vehicles and facilities across the United States have become targets of violent protests and attacks, drawing attention for their intense and often destructive nature. The most recent incident, a “targeted attack” on Tesla vehicles in Las Vegashas sparked concern across the nation.
While these actions are presented as protests against Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s affiliations and policies, these acts may have little impact on the billionaire CEO himself.
A series of attacks on Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and repair facilities have taken place across the country as people strive to protest Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). According to data from YouGova market research company that began tracking Tesla’s reputation with consumers in 2016, Americans’ opinions of Tesla have plummeted since 2022, when Musk first purchased Twitter (now known as X).
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Now, people are taking action in protest of Musk by targeting his company’s vehicles. However, these violent acts of protest have several unintended consequences that seem to be doing more harm than good.
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Every Tesla purchased helps put money in Musk’s pocket. But every Tesla vandalized doesn’t necessarily take that money back out. However, it does cause financial strain on whoever owns that Tesla.
Jeff Nguyen is one of those people. On March 16, he shared surveillance footage from his Tesla on Facebook, which showed someone keying his car.
“I just bought it because it was an electric car,” Nguyen told CBS News after the vandalism. “This one is pretty fun to drive. It has really just nothing to do with politics or anything like that.”
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On March 18, 2025, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department responded to a series of reports early in the morning about a “targeted attack” on Tesla vehicles at a Tesla Collision Center. Five vehicles were damaged, including two fully engulfed in flames.
Of course, firefighters were called to the scene to put out the blaze, putting their lives in danger to contain the fire. According to Fire Engineer Matt Halleckputting out electric vehicle fires is one of their “worst nightmares.”
“These fires burn very hot and it is dangerous because there are different chemicals that are being produced,” Capt. Parker Wilbourn of the Sacramento Metropolitan Fire District in California has explained. “Electric vehicle fires are just a whole different beast.”
While electric vehicles are lauded for being better for the environment than gas-powered vehicleswhen their batteries burn, it has disastrous effects. Research from the University of Miami found that when an electric vehicle catches on fire, it releases more than 100 toxic chemicals.
This creates an increased risk for “firefighters, members of the community, the air, the soil and nearby water,” Alberto Caban-Martinez, Ph.D., D.O., M.P.H., deputy director of the Sylvester Firefighter Cancer Initiative (FCI) and professor of public health sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, explained.
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For those behind these violent acts, the goal is clear: they want to send a message about Tesla’s CEO, Musk, and his controversial role in President Trump’s cost-cutting task force DOGE. However, their choice to resort to violence and destruction is backfiring.
Attacking cars and property, regardless of their symbolic value, does little to advance any real political change. In fact, it only reinforces the public’s perception that the protesters are acting out of anger and frustration, not rationality or meaningful advocacy — which at the end of the day, is just harmful towards the public.
Musk, known for his controversial persona and his strong online presence, has responded to these acts of violence by labeling them as “terrorism” and condemning the senseless destruction.
“It’s really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of, really, hatred and violence from the Left,” Musk said in an interview with Sean Hannity. “I always thought that the left, that Democrats were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring, and yet they’re burning down cars, they’re firebombing dealerships, they’re firing bullets into dealerships, they’re just, you know, smashing up Teslas.”
Despite the anger directed at him, Musk’s business empire continues to thrive. Tesla remains one of the world’s most valuable companies, and he has the resources to weather any storm, including these acts of aggression.
The protesters may feel they are punishing Musk, but in reality, the ones experiencing immediate harm are those whose livelihoods depend on the Tesla network — employees, customers, and local communities impacted by the destruction of property and disruption of services.
Instead of focusing on the issues at hand — like corporate influence, government policies, or the ethics of business practices — the public is left talking about the violence itself. And that’s not helping anyone.
The more extreme these attacks get, the more likely it is that they’ll push people away from the cause. Rather than being seen as a legitimate protest, these actions risk being viewed as reckless and out of control. In the end, the protesters might lose the support of those who were once on their side, making it even harder to drive any real change.
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Erika Ryan is a writer working on her bachelor’s degree in Journalism. She is based in Florida and covers relationships, psychology, self-help, and human interest topics.
