Man drives car into protesters outside a Tesla dealership, nobody hurt, sheriff says
By JESSE BEDAYN
A man drove his car into protesters outside a Tesla dealership in Palm Beach County, Florida, but did not injure any of those who had gathered to demonstrate against billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump over the weekend, according to law enforcement.
The planned protest was one of a slew across the U.S. at businesses associated with Tesla, the company led by Musk, in response to the billionaire’s work with the Trump administration in cutting federal funding and the workforce.
Attacks on property carrying the logo of Elon Musk’s electric-car company are cropping up across the U.S. and overseas. Several more violent incidents include Cybertrucks being set on fire in Seattle and shots fired at a Tesla dealership in Oregon.
The protest on Saturday was interrupted when Andrew Dutil drove his vehicle onto the sidewalk full of protesters at a slow speed, forcing people to scramble out of the way to avoid the being hit, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
Dutil was arrested and faces an assault charge, according to court records. An attorney who could speak on Dutil’s behalf wasn’t immediately listed in court records.
Palm Beach County is also home to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, which the president has called the “Center of the Universe” on social media. Trump and Musk — through the Department of Government Efficiency — have begun dismantling government agencies and programs and laying off staff in the name of culling government waste, fraud and abuse.
Bedayn is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.