FBI launches task force to crack down on violent Tesla attacks, mitigate threats
The FBI on Monday launched a task force to crack down on violent Tesla attacks, Fox News Digital has learned.
The FBI’s task force was created in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) and will coordinate investigative activity.
Fox News Digital has learned that there have been various instances in recent weeks of vandalism, arson and targeted shootings against Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations across the nation.
The task force comes as a wave of Tesla car owners, dealerships, and charging stations have been targeted nationwide amid Elon Musk's involvement with the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is focused on slashing wasteful spending and fraud within the federal government. Musk is the co-founder and CEO of Tesla.
"As always, Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino have been adamant about responsiveness to agents on the ground and providing them the resources they need to serve Americans," FBI spokesman Ben Williamson told Fox News Digital. "This Task Force is just the latest move in coordinating our efforts to ensure those who violently attack Tesla will be pursued and brought to justice."
Since March 1, 2025, the FBI has received 48 "guardians" related to Tesla violence, criminal activity and threatening communications, Fox News Digital has learned. Guardians assess counterterrorism-based incidents.
The FBI is investigating, in conjunction with federal, state and local law enforcement partners – with seven pending full arson investigations.
A source familiar told Fox News Digital that the FBI has not developed a connection between people involved in the series of arson incidents at Tesla dealerships and properties and online groups.
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Fox News Digital has learned there have been three arrests related to Molotov cocktails in Salem, Oregon, and Loveland, Colorado.
"Director Patel has been unequivocally clear: the FBI will be relentless in its mission to protect the American people," another FBI official said. "Acts of violence, vandalism, and domestic terrorism – like the recent Tesla attacks – will be pursued with the full force of the law."
As for the task force, a threat tag has been created at the FBI to streamline reports and a command post at FBI headquarters has been created. It consists of a joint FBI/ATF task force to mitigate that threat stream.
Fox News Digital has learned that Tesla Takedown protesters are calling for 500 demonstrations at all 277 Tesla showrooms, as well as Supercharger stations, on March 29, 2025.
Last week, the FBI identified a website that was registered on March 17, 2025 that featured a U.S. map with locations of Tesla superchargers, dealerships, and addresses of individuals associated with the Department of Government Efficiency. The cursor on the website was a Molotov cocktail.
The FBI is treating the attacks as "domestic terrorism." Attorney General Pam Bondi called the attacks on Tesla "domestic terrorism" and the Justice Department last week announced charges against three suspects in the Tesla arson cases.
Tesla CEO and head of the Department of Government Efficiency has said he is in "shock" over the protests and attacks against Tesla.
"It's really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of real hatred and violence from the left," Musk said during an exclusive interview on "Hannity" last week.
"I thought the left, you know, 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 smashing up Teslas," he continued.
Musk spoke out against the "deranged" attacks, suggesting "there's some kind of mental illness thing going on here because this doesn't make any sense." The billionaire even alluded to "larger forces" potentially behind the attacks that have sprung up across the nation.