Owen McIntire, Kansas City teen, charged with firebombing of Tesla dealership, with UMass Boston student facing 20 years if convicted amid a wave of ‘domestic’ attacks across the United States in response to Donald Trump and Elon Musk run DOGE.
A 19-year-old Missouri teen faces 20 years jail after being charged with the firebombing of a Tesla dealership in Kansas City last month.
Owen McIntire is accused of setting fire to the dealership on March 17, where two Tesla Cybertrucks were destroyed on the evening of the alleged attack.
The incident is part of a wave of arson attacks on Tesla dealerships across the U.S in retaliation to the car manufacturer’s CEO Elon Musk‘s heading up of the controversial DOGE department along with his deep ties to the equally controversial Trump administration.
Tesla arson attack branded as domestic terrorism
In the alleged arson attack, McIntire is said to have concocted two homemade incendiary devices and used them in a bid to destroy the pair of Cybertrucks, which cost $105,485 and $107,495, the Justice Department alleged.
Only one of those bottle bombs exploded, and investigators were able to recover the second completely intact, the statement said. It appeared to be an apple cider vinegar bottle, according to photos from the scene.
Two Tesla charging stations, which cost $550 each, were also damaged in the blaze, feds said.
McIntire, a college student at University of Massachusetts Boston was home in Kansas City for spring break at the time of the attack.
If convicted, the 19 year old 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.
McIntire made his first court appearance Friday, where it was not immediately clear whether he entered a plea.
In a statement following McIntire’s arrest, Bondi doubled down on her vow to find and prosecute anyone found to have attacked any one of Musk’s businesses.
‘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.’
🚨BREAKING: The FBI has arrested Boston college student Owen McIntire for allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at a Tesla facility in Kansas City, MO, while home on spring break.
He’s facing up to 20 years in prison — and this marks the second anti-Tesla extremist caught this… pic.twitter.com/EcyrC0BbWf
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) April 18, 2025
Activism across the U.S
FBI Director Kash Patel thanked Bondi as he announced the charges against McIntire on Friday on X, celebrating the second Tesla-related arrest in a week.
‘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.’
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.
The arrests come as anti-Elon Musk protests continue to erupt across the US 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 gutting of government departments and deep budget cuts.
In one incident, a pro Musk activist allegedly sought to run over seniors gathered at a Florida Tesla dealership over concerns that Musk would seek to dismantle social security.
During a recent gathering in NYC, roughly 250 activists showed up 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!’
