Posted on Monday, March 24, 2025
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by Sarah Katherine Sisk
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6 Comments
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A gleaming Tesla in your driveway was once a badge of environmental virtue. Now, thanks to a disturbing convergence of digital vigilantism and real-world violence, it might just paint a target on your back.
Fair or not, owning a Tesla a decade ago often meant inviting eye rolls from many who saw the vehicles as symbols of progressive preening. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who himself used to identify as a Democrat, was celebrated in liberal circles as a visionary entrepreneur fighting climate change.
Now that Musk is leading the Trump administration’s war on government waste, however, the same progressive movement that once championed Tesla’s mission is vandalizing Tesla dealerships, setting fire to Tesla cars, and even targeting individual Tesla owners.
In the latest alarming example of the left’s sudden disdain for anything even remotely connected to Musk, a new website called “DOGEQUEST” has published the personal information of Tesla owners nationwide, complete with an interactive map showing their locations and a Molotov cocktail cursor that leaves little doubt about its creators’ intentions.
The site’s operators offer a simple way out for owners who now have a target on their backs — prove you’ve sold your Tesla, and they’ll remove your information.
It’s a chilling example of how quickly the radical left can pivot from celebrating environmental progress to promoting what President Trump has correctly dubbed “domestic terrorism.”
Unfortunately, the threats haven’t remained confined to the internet. In recent weeks, Tesla dealerships across America have faced a wave of violence. In Loveland, Colorado, police arrested a woman for throwing an “incendiary device” at a Tesla building on March 7. Oregon has seen multiple drive-by shootings at Tesla locations this month.
In Las Vegas, attackers armed with guns and Molotov cocktails torched multiple vehicles at a Tesla center on March 18, spray-painting “RESIST” on the doors. The same night, Tesla dealerships in San Diego and Kansas City were targeted, with vehicles defaced with swastikas and set ablaze. Attorney General Pam Bondi has labeled these coordinated attacks “nothing short of domestic terrorism.”
Individual owners aren’t safe either. Avi Ben Hamo, a Jewish Cybertruck owner in Brooklyn, caught someone defacing his vehicle with a swastika.
“I don’t feel safe anymore in Brooklyn or in New York,” Ben Hamo told reporters after the incident. His words capture a sentiment shared by many Tesla owners who’ve found themselves caught in an ideological crossfire they never signed up for.
The same political movement that once championed electric vehicles as humanity’s best hope against climate change is now actively working to intimidate owners of the world’s most successful EV brand. This stunning reversal reveals an uncomfortable truth: for the left, political conformity trumps all else, even environmental progress.
It’s not just individual left-wing activists who are trying to take down Tesla, either. The left’s “enforcers” in the ESG industry are also taking aim at the company. Despite the fact that Tesla is by far the largest EV maker in the United States, it now scores lower on ESG ratings than Altria, a major tobacco company. Tesla rates a 37 on S&P Global’s ESG scale, while Altria, the company behind Marlboro cigarettes, scores a 42.
Musk didn’t mince words about the threat when he spoke on the Joe Rogan Experience on February 28. Initially discussing his work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the pushback he’s faced, Musk’s tone grew more serious as he delved into the personal danger he faces.
“I have to be careful that I don’t push too hard on the corruption stuff because it’s going to get me killed,” he said, comparing the resistance he’s facing to the violence Trump encountered leading up to the 2024 election.
Musk’s concerns aren’t unfounded. In early February, he exposed disturbing posts from a Reddit community demanding that DOGE employees be doxxed, hunted, and publicly executed. The violent rhetoric mirrors a broader pattern of escalating threats against both DOGE employees and Tesla owners. But what if what happens on Reddit doesn’t stay on Reddit?
“I think they actually want to kill me. And the reason I know, well they say so online,” Musk said. “There are Reddit forums where they don’t just want to kill me, they want to desecrate my corpse.”
The violent attacks on Tesla facilities, coupled with the almost daily “Tesla Takedown” protests occurring across the country, echo the violent unrest of 2020, replete with property destruction and intimidation tactics. It’s a playbook we’ve seen before. The left’s campaign against the world’s largest electric vehicle maker reveals that their true priority isn’t saving the planet after all — it’s enforcing ideological compliance.
The question now isn’t just about Tesla or Elon Musk – it’s about whether Americans can maintain their right to make consumer choices without fear of political retribution. When buying an electric car becomes an act of political courage rather than environmental consciousness, we’ve entered dangerous territory indeed.
Sarah Katherine Sisk is a senior at Hillsdale College pursuing a degree in Economics and Journalism. You can follow her on X @SKSisk76.
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