Connect with us

News

Trump labels attacks on Tesla stores and vehicles as domestic terrorism

A Cybertruck owner recently noted on social media that an anti-Tesla/Musk protester ended up physically hurting a passenger.

Published

on

President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)
President Donald J. Trump purchases a Tesla on the South Lawn, Tuesday, March 11, 2025. (Official White House Photo by Molly Riley)

U.S. President Donald Trump stated on Tuesday that violence targeted against Tesla stores and vehicles would be classified as domestic terrorism.

Trump explained his point at the White House when he selected a Tesla that his staff would be using. 

Escalating Tesla Attacks

Amidst Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration and his overt political views, initiatives such as “Tesla Takedown” protests have become quite prolific. While some protests were generally peaceful and only involved groups of people holding demonstrations outside Tesla stores, some anti-Tesla/Musk individuals have evidently crossed the line.

This has resulted in numerous Tesla stores across the United States, and even abroad, being subjected to arson. A Supercharger station, which is valuable even for non-Tesla EV owners, was also set on fire. The Tesla Salem store was actually attacked by Molotov cocktails. Widespread vandalism incidents against Teslas have been reported, and a Cybertruck owner recently noted on social media that an anti-Tesla/Musk protester ended up physically hurting a passenger while his vehicle was being attacked.

Advertisement

Trump’s Warning

Trump was very direct in his warning to those who attack Tesla, though he also emphasized that he is all for protecting American companies like the NFL. Following was Trump’s response to a reporter who asked about calls to label attacks against Tesla stores and vehicles as domestic terrorism.

“I will do that. I’ll do it. I’m gonna stop them. We catch anybody doing it. Because they’re harming a great American company. You know, I’ve stuck up for the NFL. I’ve stuck up for a lot of American companies… I did a very big favor for the NFL. I do favors for all of them.

“When you hurt an American company, especially a company like this that supplies so many jobs that others are unable to do. When you do that, those people are gonna go through a big problem when we catch them. We have a lot of cameras up. We already know who some of them are, and we’re gonna catch them.

“And they’re bad guys. They’re the same guys that screw around with our schools and universities, the same garbage. Now we’re gonna catch them. And let me tell you, you do it to Tesla and you do it to any company, we’re gonna catch you, and you’re gonna go through hell,” Trump noted. 

Advertisement

Not Going to Stop

In response to the U.S. President’s comments, a group claiming to organize the “Tesla Takedown” protests insisted on social media platform Bluesky that its actions have been peaceful, as noted in a Reuters report. The group also hinted that would not be scaling back its efforts against Tesla.

“Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism. They are trying to intimidate us. We will not let them succeed,” the group noted.

Simon is an experienced automotive reporter with a passion for electric cars and clean energy. Fascinated by the world envisioned by Elon Musk, he hopes to make it to Mars (at least as a tourist) someday. For stories or tips--or even to just say a simple hello--send a message to his email, simon@teslarati.com or his handle on X, @ResidentSponge.

Advertisement
Comments

Elon Musk

Brazil Supreme Court orders Elon Musk and X investigation closed

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

Published

on

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ordered the closure of an investigation involving Elon Musk and social media platform X. The inquiry had been pending for about two years and examined whether the platform was used to coordinate attacks against members of the judiciary.

The decision was issued by Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes following a recommendation from Brazil’s Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet.

According to a report from Agencia Brasil, the investigation conducted by the Federal Police did not find evidence that X deliberately attempted to attack the judiciary or circumvent court orders.

Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet concluded that the irregularities identified during the probe did not indicate fraudulent intent.

Advertisement

Justice Moraes accepted the prosecutor’s recommendation and ruled that the investigation should be closed. Under the ruling, the case will remain closed unless new evidence emerges.

The inquiry stemmed from concerns that content on X may have enabled online attacks against Supreme Court justices or violated rulings requiring the suspension of certain accounts under investigation.

Justice Moraes had previously taken several enforcement actions related to the platform during the broader dispute involving social media regulation in Brazil.

These included ordering a nationwide block of the platform, freezing Starlink accounts, and imposing fines on X totaling about $5.2 million. Authorities also froze financial assets linked to X and SpaceX through Starlink to collect unpaid penalties and seized roughly $3.3 million from the companies’ accounts.

Advertisement

Moraes also imposed daily fines of up to R$5 million, about $920,000, for alleged evasion of the X ban and established penalties of R$50,000 per day for VPN users who attempted to bypass the restriction.

Brazil remains an important market for X, with roughly 17 million users, making it one of the platform’s larger user bases globally.

The country is also a major market for Starlink, SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which has surpassed one million subscribers in Brazil.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Elon Musk

FCC chair criticizes Amazon over opposition to SpaceX satellite plan

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Published

on

Credit: @SecWar/X

U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr criticized Amazon after the company opposed SpaceX’s proposal to launch a large satellite constellation that could function as an orbital data center network.

Carr made the remarks in a post on social media platform X.

Amazon recently urged the FCC to reject SpaceX’s application to deploy a constellation of up to 1 million low Earth orbit satellites that could serve as artificial intelligence data centers in space.

The company described the proposal as a “lofty ambition rather than a real plan,” arguing that SpaceX had not provided sufficient details about how the system would operate.

Advertisement

Carr responded by pointing to Amazon’s own satellite deployment progress.

“Amazon should focus on the fact that it will fall roughly 1,000 satellites short of meeting its upcoming deployment milestone, rather than spending their time and resources filing petitions against companies that are putting thousands of satellites in orbit,” Carr wrote on X.

Amazon has declined to comment on the statement.

Amazon has been working to deploy its Project Kuiper satellite network, which is intended to compete with SpaceX’s Starlink service. The company has invested more than $10 billion in the program and has launched more than 200 satellites since April of last year.

Advertisement

Amazon has also asked the FCC for a 24-month extension, until July 2028, to meet a requirement to deploy roughly 1,600 satellites by July 2026, as noted in a CNBC report.

SpaceX’s Starlink network currently has nearly 10,000 satellites in orbit and serves roughly 10 million customers. The FCC has also authorized SpaceX to deploy 7,500 additional satellites as the company continues expanding its global satellite internet network.

Continue Reading

Energy

Tesla Energy gains UK license to sell electricity to homes and businesses

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

Published

on

Credit: Tesla Energy/X

Tesla Energy has received a license to supply electricity in the United Kingdom, opening the door for the company to serve homes and businesses in the country.

The license was granted to Tesla Energy Ventures Ltd. by UK energy regulator Ofgem after a seven-month review process.

According to Ofgem, the license took effect at 6 p.m. local time on Wednesday and applies to Great Britain.

The approval allows Tesla’s energy business to sell electricity directly to customers in the region, as noted in a Bloomberg News report.

Advertisement

Tesla has already expanded similar services in the United States. In Texas, the company offers electricity plans that allow Tesla owners to charge their vehicles at a lower cost while also feeding excess electricity back into the grid.

Tesla already has a sizable presence in the UK market. According to price comparison website U-switch, there are more than 250,000 Tesla electric vehicles in the country and thousands of Tesla home energy storage systems.

Ofgem also noted that Tesla Motors Ltd., a separate entity incorporated in England and Wales, received an electricity generation license in June 2020.

The new UK license arrives as Tesla continues expanding its global energy business.

Advertisement

Last year, Tesla Energy retained the top position in the global battery energy storage system (BESS) integrator market for the second consecutive year. According to Wood Mackenzie’s latest rankings, Tesla held about 15% of global market share in 2024.

The company also maintained a dominant position in North America, where it captured roughly 39% market share in the region.

At the same time, competition in the energy storage sector is increasing. Chinese companies such as Sungrow have been expanding their presence globally, particularly in Europe.

Advertisement
Continue Reading