- After President Donald Trump vowed that actions against Tesla would be treated as “domestic terrorism,” the government has now unveiled the first three sets of charges. The president joked about sending the defendants to serve out 20-year sentences in El Salvador, notorious for its violent prisons.
The Trump administration has made clear protests against Tesla would be treated as domestic terrorism. Now, three people have been charged by the Department of Justice in connection with vandalizing Tesla properties—and the president just floated sending them to an infamous prison in El Salvador.
“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Friday morning. “Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday said three people were charged after “the violent destruction of Tesla properties” and face a possible maximum sentence of 20 years each.
“All three defendants will face the full force of the law for using Molotov cocktails to set fire to Tesla cars and charging stations,” Bondi said in a press release.
The administration recently deported hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, claiming it was removing violent gang members. The legality of the move is now being litigated in the courts.
Sending away the defendants—if they are convicted—might not be legal: The action could violate the constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment as well as the First Step Act, a sentencing reform law Trump signed in his first term, Axios reported.
The alleged Tesla vandals include a person in Loveland, Colo., who tried to light a Tesla on fire; a person who threw incendiary devices at a dealership in Salem, Ore., and a third person in Charleston, S.C., who wrote “profane” graffiti about Trump at a Tesla charging station before setting it on fire, according to the DOJ.
With Tesla CEO Elon Musk becoming the public face of the administration’s government-cutting efforts, protesters are registering their displeasure by targeting Tesla dealerships and infrastructure. While dozens of peaceful protests have taken place, people have also set Teslas on fire and shot up Tesla dealerships.
The company did not reply to Fortune’s request for comment.
Trump, who recently held a promotional event for Tesla on the White House lawn where he reportedly bought a $90,000 Model S, has vowed to treat acts against the company as domestic terrorism. The FBI defines domestic terrorism as including crimes “dangerous to human life” that are intended to intimidate civilians or affect government policy via coercion, assassintion, mass destruction or kidnapping.
The DOJ did not specify the names of the defendants or the specific charges, and did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 404 Media linked the arrests to incidents that took place in February and March. Police used license-plate readers and social media records to identify the alleged perpetrators, 404 Media reported.
