Police in Texas said they found “incendiary devices” at a Tesla dealership in Austin on Monday morning, as the Trump administration has pledged to crack down on vandalism and protests against Elon Musk’s car company.
“On Monday, March 24, 2025, at approximately 8.04am, Austin police department (APD) officers responded to a found/abandoned hazardous call at the Tesla dealership located at 12845 N US 183 Hwy SVRD NB,” Austin police department said in a statement shared with CBS Austin.
“When officers arrived on scene, they located suspicious devices and called the APD bomb squad to investigate. The devices, which were determined to be incendiary, were taken into police custody without incident. This is an open and ongoing investigation, and there is no further information available for release at this time.”
Tesla dealerships and charging stations have been vandalized in recent weeks, as anger against Musk’s unprecedented influence over the US government has spilled over. A man threw flaming beer bottles at a Tesla charging station in South Carolina in early March, setting both the charging station and himself on fire, and a total of nearly 20 Tesla showrooms and charging stations have seen deliberate fires set since Donald Trump took office.
Related: ‘Tesla is a good target’: Elon Musk’s car business is focus of fury for political role
Thousands of people have participated in peaceful protests outside Tesla dealerships across the country. At one demonstration outside a Tesla dealership in West Palm Beach, Florida, near Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, a 44-year-old man was accused of trying to intentionally drive a Nissan SUV into a group of protesters. He then allegedly got out of his vehicle, told workers at the dealership in question that he “stands with Tesla” and left.
Andrew Dutil faces a count of aggravated assault with a weapon, local authorities said in a report, according to the Florida news station WPLG. He was reportedly being held in custody without bond as of Monday afternoon. He was tentatively scheduled for a preliminary hearing on 21 April.
The showroom where Texas police said the incendiary devices were found on Monday was the subject of a demonstration two days earlier, KXAN reported. There is no suggestion that the protest is linked to the devices.
Trump has fiercely defended Musk, who contributed almost $300m toward his election campaign and last week suggested that people who vandalize Tesla could be deported to serve prison sentences in El Salvador.
On Thursday, Pam Bondi, the US attorney general, announced charges against three people she accused of “violent destruction of Tesla properties”, adding: “The days of committing crimes without consequence have ended. Let this be a warning: if you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars.”
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