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.
Thousands of people have participated in peaceful protests outside Tesla dealerships across the country, and the showroom where police said the incendiary devices were found was the subject of a demonstration on Saturday, 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.”