Tesla Owners Receiving Threats That If They Don't Sell Their Cars, They'll Be Vandalized

The situation is heating up.

Tesla Spoil

As Tesla CEO Elon Musk makes good on his promise to cut up the federal government, Tesla owners are feeling the heat.

Tesla owners throughout four California cities found a series of anonymous notes left on their EVs, declaring that any vehicles not sold by February 12 will be vandalized. Some of the notes, pointedly, were wrapped around bricks.

"No Nazis in America," the notes read. "Tesla owners buy or sell by Feb 12 (Lincoln B-day) after that it is open season."

The threats appear to come from Students Against Nazi Extremism (SANE), a small direct-action group apparently organized around California State University campuses, according to reporting by Lost Coast Outpost, who received a mailed note from the group.

Outpost reports that SANE's stated goal is to "create enough shame to make it onerous for anyone to buy or operate a Tesla-branded vehicle.”

Though February 12 has come and gone, police have yet to report any incidents of vandalism in SANE's target cities — but that doesn't mean they're not happening elsewhere.

The threats come amidst a growing international outcry against Musk's Oval Office chauvinism, which has resulted in a wave of vandalism of Tesla vehicles and a slump in sales for the company's EVs throughout the US and the world.

But the problem with Musk goes beyond his oligarchic tendencies. The richest man in the world has swung far to the right lately, throwing his weight behind neo-Nazi accounts, performing fascist salutes, and appearing at far-right German rallies — fueling a growing stigma associated with those who've purchased his products in the past. (It's probably worth a moment of sympathy for Tesla owners, who even just a few years ago, before Musk's increasingly bizarre behavior started in earnest, could justifiably believe they were buying into a milquetoast vision of progressive environmentalism.)

In the Netherlands last week, a Tesla showroom was hit with vandalism depicting Nazi imagery. Earlier, protestors projected an image of Musk's dubious salute onto the Tesla Gigafactory in Germany. In the US, protestors in Colorado incurred the wrath of the FBI when they vandalized a Tesla showroom, going so far as to try to set it ablaze.

Cybertrucks have likewise become easy targets for graffiti, and Tesla is apparently ramping up its efforts to protect EV charging ports from a wave of vandalism.

Had Musk stuck to profiteering in the domain of business, Tesla drivers might be able to sleep a little easier. Unfortunately for them, he's gone on a federal power bender mixed with a heavy dose of far-right rhetoric — and it looks like he's just getting started.

More on Tesla: State Department Says Contract for $400 Million of "Armored Teslas" on Hold After Explosive Outcry