Police believe a UMass Boston college student spent part of his spring break attacking a Tesla dealership back home in Missouri. Owen McIntire, 19, of Parkville, Mo., was arrested after allegedly using Molotov cocktails to firebomb a dealership in Kansas City, reports the Boston Herald. Kansas City Police reportedly noticed smoke coming from a Tesla Cybertruck in the dealership's parking lot around 11:15pm on March 17. The officers couldn't put out the fire, and it spread to another Cybertruck and two Tesla charging stations. Police found an "unbroken suspected incendiary device" near the burning vehicles, and firefighters were eventually able to put out the blaze. According to the Boston Globe, the two vehicles had a combined value of $212,000.
An affidavit filed by law enforcement revealed that surveillance footage from a nearby residence allegedly shows a man getting out of a Subaru Crosstrek and walking toward the dealership while carrying a bag. The Crosstrek's license plate came back to McIntire, who investigators identified as the suspect. The affidavit says McIntire is a college student in Boston and that he was on spring break when the crime was committed. Airport surveillance video and posts on McIntire's Instagram and Facebook profiles confirmed he was in Kansas City during the timeframe. He made an initial appearance in federal court in Boston on Friday on charges of malicious destruction of property and unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm or destructive device, according to court records.
The incident is believed to be connected to the recent
protests against Tesla due to displeasure with Elon Musk and his work with the Trump administration. The
Washington Post reports the "Tesla Takedown" movement has led to weekly protests around the country, and that the controversy has impacted Tesla's sales and stock price. Attorney General Pam Bondi spoke about McIntire's arrest and warned that similar conduct won't go unpunished. "Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: You will not evade us," Bondi said. "You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it."
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