A vandal in Las Vegas who lit a Tesla repair center on fire has been arrested, bringing a name and face to the crime that engulfed vehicles and a structure in flames.
Officers in Las Vegas arrested Paul Kim, a 36-year-old, on Wednesday. He faces charges of arson and possessing an explosive device.
The Tesla repair center at 6260 West Badura Avenue was set aflame on March 18 at around 2:45 a.m. In total, five vehicles were set on fire, as well as the building itself. It was one of the more notable instances of vandalism against Tesla in recent months, but police now have their culprit.
Las Vegas Metro Police Department Sheriff Dori Koren described the weapons Kim used to execute the attack:
“He used what appeared to be multiple Molotov cocktails and firearms to conduct his attack.”
As the instances of attacks on Tesla continue to be publicized, we are now seeing considerable pushback from owners, the company, and even the United States government regarding what it calls “domestic terrorism.”
Owners are now filing lawsuits against those who vandalize their vehicles, as the first civil suit against a vandal was filed in Texas yesterday.
Great
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2025
Tesla has not made any moves itself against the vandals, but we expect the company to potentially enter some litigation against groups or politicians that incite violence against its property and the owners of its vehicles.
Additionally, the U.S. government has utilized the FBI to probe incidents against Tesla as a part of them being constituted as instances of domestic terrorism. Earlier this month, the Bureau established a specific task force to handle Tesla-related attacks.
“The FBI has been investigating the increase in violent activity toward Tesla, and over the last few days, we have taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate our response,” FBI head Kash Patel said on X. “This is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice.”
