College Student, 19, Charged in Missouri Tesla Firebombing

A college student has been arrested and charged for allegedly using a Molotov cocktail to bomb a Kansas City Tesla dealership.

On Friday, April 18, the Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs named Owen McIntire, 19, as the person facing federal charges related to an arson at a Tesla business in Kansas City, Mo. 

The Kansas City resident, who attends college in Boston, was charged with 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, per a DOJ press release.

The incident happened on March 17 at approximately 11:16 p.m., the DOJ said, citing an affidavit.

“Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: You will not evade us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”

The Kansas City incident came just months after a Tesla Cybertruck blew up outside of the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas on Jan. 1, leaving one person dead and several others injured. 

It was later determined that fireworks and gas canisters ignited the blaze. 

Other Tesla properties have had incidents in recent months, including a South Carolina charging station and a Buffalo Grove, Ill., service center.

“F— Trump” and “Long Live Ukraine” were allegedly spray-painted at the South Carolina location.

“This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong,” Trump advisor and Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X on March 18. “Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.”

On Friday, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “Crimes have consequences. The people behind these violent and dangerous attacks on private property will face decades in prison — we will not make deals and we will not negotiate.”

The Cybertrucks McIntire is suspected of having destroyed had sale prices of $105,485 and $107,485. Two charging stations were also damaged by the fire, each valued at approximately $550.

McIntire was home for spring break at the time of the incident, and witnesses said the individual wore “a black dress” and “appeared to be a woman because of the long hair,” the affidavit said. 

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McIntire was allegedly also captured on surveillance footage at the Kansas City International Airport after. 

His case is also being investigated by the FBI’s Kansas City and Boston Field Offices, among other agencies.

“This is the second arrest this week of a suspect charged with targeting Tesla, more proof that the FBI will not stand for these destructive acts,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “These actions are dangerous, they are illegal, and we are going to arrest those responsible. We will work with our partners at the Department of Justice to hold accountable anyone who commits such crimes. I commend our FBI teams in Kansas City and Boston for their work.”