A 19-year-old from Missouri faces 20 years in prison after being charged in connection with the firebombing of a Tesla dealership in Kansas City.
Owen McIntire is accused of attacking the dealership on March 17, where prosecutors alleged that he destroyed two Tesla Cybertrucks.
The arson incident was part of a series of attacks on Tesla dealerships, believed to be a response to CEO Elon Musk’s close relationship with the Trump administration.
In a strong statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi, under Trump’s administration, promised to take action against the attacks. She referred to the perpetrators as ‘domestic terrorists’ and warned that they would face imprisonment for targeting Tesla stores.
FBI Director Kash Patel expressed gratitude towards Bondi for her stance while revealing the charges against McIntire. This announcement, made on Musk’s social media platform X, marked the second arrest related to Tesla incidents within a week, as authorities cracked down on the arson attacks.
‘Our FBI teams continue our aggressive work to crack down on domestic terrorism cases like this one,’ Patel posted. ‘Pam Bondi has given us the support to pursue these cases, and we are acting accordingly.’
McIntire is reportedly a college student in Boston, but was home in Kansas City for spring break at the time of the attack.
He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison on charges of one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce.
Owen McIntire, 19, (pictured) has been charged in connection with the firebombing of a Tesla dealership in Kansas City on March 17
Prosecutors alleged that McIntire used a Molotov cocktail to set a Tesla Cybertruck ablaze, which then spread through the parking lot
When the Kansas City Tesla dealership was firebombed, police said several Cybertrucks were set on fire at around 11:15pm.
Investigators recovered a Molotov cocktail that failed to detonate at the scene, and believe another was used to damage the trucks.
Cops said the fire started at one vehicle spreading through the parking lot, also damaging two charging stations.
McIntire made his first court appearance Friday, where it was not immediately clear whether he entered a plea. As he was arrested, the Department of Justice released an image of the suspect walking through Kansas City International Airport.
In a statement following McIntire’s arrest, Bondi doubled down on her vow to find and prosecute anyone who attacked one of Musk’s businesses in recent months.
‘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.’
Patel lauded it as the latest in several arrests related to attacks on Musk’s businesses, including the arrest of alleged communist Paul Hyon Kim, 36, last month, after he allegedly set dozens of Cybertrucks ablaze in Las Vegas.
Investigators recovered a Molotov cocktail that failed to detonate at the scene, and believe another was used to damage the trucks.
As he was arrested, the Department of Justice released an image of the suspect walking through Kansas City International Airport
Authorities also released this image of the suspect in the Kansas City attack, alleging it was McIntire
McIntire is reportedly a college student in Boston, but was home in Kansas City for spring break at the time of the attack
It came days after lipstick-wearing suspect Jamison Wagner, 40, was arrested in New Mexico in connection with a string of attacks on both Tesla vehicles and also GOP headquarters.
Wagner torched cars at the Tesla Albuquerque Showroom and set a doorway alight at the Republican Party of New Mexico offices, prosecutors said.
He used homemade napalm devices topped with distinctive lids which were later recovered following a search of his home, court documents stated.
Wagner is also accused of daubing the showroom and six vehicles in swastika symbols and graffiti, which read ‘Die Elon,’ ‘Tesla Nazi Inc,’ and ‘Die Tesla Nazi’ among others phrases.
Wagner was arrested after he left a trail of clues behind at the scene which matched objects seized during a raid on his home, according to to prosecutors
These included remnants of homemade incendiary devices, graffiti spray paint and a stencil bearing the phrase ‘ICE = KKK’, the same words which had been emblazoned on the Republican party offices.
It came days after lipstick-wearing suspect Jamison Wagner, 40, was arrested in New Mexico in connection with a string of attacks on both Tesla vehicles and also GOP headquarters
Prosecutors said Wagner left graffiti on the Tesla showroom and several of the cars
A doorway was also set alight at the Republican Party of New Mexico offices on March 30
Prosecutors say they recovered these stencils from Wagner’s home. The phrase matches graffiti spray painted on the GOP HQ
Investigators noted that several glass jars used for the improvised napalm materials found at the crime scenes contained a hand hand-written capital ‘I’ or ‘H’ letter their lids. They stated that similar lids and jars were found at Wagner’s home.
The arrests come as anti-Elon Musk protests erupted across the US in demonstrations against his DOGE arm of the Trump administration making huge cuts to workforces and entire agencies.
Last month dozens of fired-up crowds assembled outside Tesla stores across the country to protest against Musk’s efforts to slash government spending and enact reforms.
Demonstrations also erupted in London, Portugal, Malaysia and Iceland.
Roughly 250 activists were gathered outside a showroom in New York City, holding anti-Musk placards that read ‘Block Fascism Now and ‘Musk Must Go’ as they shouted ‘Elon Musk is not elected! Democracy must be protected!’
