They drove their Cybertrucks in a Mardi Gras parade. Then the crowd turned on them.
Joshua Hazel
- Joshua Hazel and Christina G. were excited to participate in a Mardi Gras parade with other Cybertruck owners.
- The parade turned hostile with alcohol, beads, and insults hurled at the Cybertrucks.
- Both said they faced thousands in damages — but that it promoted them to buy more Tesla shares.
When the owners of two Cybertrucks were asked to participate in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans, they felt honored — but they didn't expect to leave with their vehicles damaged and costly repairs.
"It was not like any other Mardi Gras," Joshua Hazel told Business Insider in an interview, adding that the reaction he received from some in the crowd was "aggressive," "hateful," and "violent."
Christina G., who asked not to be fully named out of fear of retaliation, is friends with Hazel and also owns a Cybertruck. Both are part of a group of Tesla owners who share common interests, including their enthusiasm for Tesla and SpaceX.
Hazel said they were both "pumped" to be asked to transport the parade marshals in their Cybertrucks for the Orpheus parade with three other friends. The parade organizers had electric vehicles carry parade marshals to monitor part of the procession, Hazel said.
The friend group of Cybertruck owners started the day at around noon in a pre-staging area at a convention center, Hazel said. They decorated their Cybertrucks with American flags and wraps, and throughout the day, people approached them to take photos.
"It was all just high energy, enthusiasm, awesome," Hazel said.
Some in the crowd began harassing the drivers
The events that transpired later that evening shocked Hazel and Christina, who have attended Mardi Gras parades for years and didn't consider their participation in the parade a statement.
"The energy shift was just so dramatic from what we experienced," Christina told BI.
Christina said it started with alcohol being thrown at the vehicle and worsened as they drove further down the route.
Hazel, who was driving the vehicle with his wife, said his Cybertruck windows were down when someone ran up to the vehicle and forcefully slang beads at its side. The beads hit his wife in the head, Hazel said.
"This guy just comes up with full force running from the crowd, and slings a handful of beads," Hazel said. "And they're, you know, there's some thick beads, very large beads in there, a handful of them, right at the side of the truck."
The truck's glass panel that covers the camera area was also shattered, he added.
Hazel posted a video of the incident on social media.
Hazel's wife told BI she didn't sustain any major injury, but she had a headache for a day or two after. Hazel said he would have been fine with the booing and thumbs down, but people were throwing full cans of beer at the vehicle with "baseball fastball throws."
Christina's Cybertruck also endured damage, and she said it feels "surreal" to think back to the event. She said people were "pummeling" the vehicle with an unknown heavy object that broke the top glass.
Christina G.
Hazel said the parade drivers had a group chat with the parade organizers and were able to contact the head of security. However, Hazel and Christina said it took over an hour before they were able to get off the route.
"We were really left to just sit and suffer," Christina told BI, adding that it felt like "40 days."
Hazel added that people called them Nazis, told them to leave the city, and expressed hatred toward Elon Musk and DOGE. He said he also witnessed children being encouraged to throw beads at the vehicle and give their middle finger.
"I've got over 20 years of military service, and I'm currently serving." Hazel said. "I'm not a Nazi in our American government, American military. So I think that kind of stuff is, that talk, is just horrendous."
The aftermath: The drivers say they face thousands in vehicle damage
Hazel and his wife said they filed a police report. Christina told BI she did the same.
Both of the Cybertruck drivers said they faced thousands of dollars in repairs following the incident.
Hazel said he received quotes that the shattered glass rim will cost around $360 to replace and the vehicle's aftermarket wrap will cost about $7,000 to remove and redo. He said the tonneau is also "heavily scratched" and that will add to the cost if it doesn't wash out.
Joshua Hazel
Christina said it cost over $2,000 to replace the broken top glass on the Cybertruck.
Christina said the wrap on her vehicle tore and it's speckled with colors from the plastic-covered beads that were thrown on it, and she plans to get it replaced, which will cost thousands more.
Christina G.
The New Orleans Police Department told BI there weren't any updates in its investigation into the incident.
Christina said her experience at the parade left her feeling traumatized.
"It's heartbreaking to see these people who have worked hard and have decided how to spend their own finances to be attacked and have their property vandalized," Christina said. "It's just broken, it's wrong."
She said while her friends have been supportive, it's been eye-opening and scary to read people's reactions online, including "the celebration that some people were experiencing in causing us harm and attacking us."
In the wake of Tesla protests and vandalism incidents across the country in protest of Elon Musk's political involvement, some Tesla owners have decided to sell their vehicles out of fear of harassment or disagreement with DOGE.
For Hazel and Christina, experiencing vandalism had the opposite effect.
Christina said that as she and her husband left New Orleans that night, she ordered the Cybertruck Wind-up Racer, a collectible model sold by Tesla, that she received this week. Hazel similarly bought an additional 185 Tesla shares following the incident.
"We bought more Tesla shares, we're looking at adding another Tesla to the stable," Hazel said, adding that he wouldn't allow "any kind of bullying to dictate" the vehicle he drives.
Are you a Tesla owner with a tip or story to share? Reach out to the reporter via secure messaging platform Signal at aalt.19 or email at aaltchek@insider.com.