TESLA ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE WERE SUBJECT TO A SERIES OF SUSPECTED ARSON ATTACKS IN ITALY AND FRANCE.
AUTHORITIES ARE CURRENTLY INVESTIGATING THESE ALLEGED CRIMES-
WHICH COME AS THE COMPANY’S CEO ELON MUSK FACES PROTESTS BOTH IN THE U.S. AND ABROAD OVER HIS ROLE IN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION.
IN ITALY, A FIRE AT A TESLA DEALERSHIP DESTROYED MORE THAN A DOZEN ELECTRIC VEHICLES EARLY MONDAY, ACCORDING TO LOCAL POLICE.
TESLA ITALY CONFIRMED IT WAS COOPERATING WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AND PROVIDED SURVEILLANCE FOOTAGE FROM THE VEHICLES’ INTERNAL CAMERAS-
THAT REMAIN OPERATIONAL EVEN WHEN THE CARS ARE NOT IN USE.
MEANWHILE, IN FRANCE, 12 TESLA SUPERCHARGERS WERE SET ON FIRE IN A SUPERMARKET PARKING LOT LAST WEEK.
FRENCH AUTHORITIES REPORTED TWO OF THE CHARGING STATIONS, VALUED AT TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS EACH, WERE COMPLETELY DESTROYED.
THE PHRASE “ANTI-TESLA CAMPAIGN BORN TO BURN” WAS ALSO SPRAY-PAINTED NEARBY.
THESE ACTS OF VANDALISM FOLLOW WORLDWIDE PROTESTS AGAINST THE AUTOMAKER THIS WEEKEND.
DUBBED THE TESLA TAKEDOWN MOVEMENT, DEMONSTRATIONS TOOK PLACE IN AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND, AND AT LEAST 8 EUROPEAN COUNTRIES.
ANTI-TESLA RALLYS WERE ALSO HELD SATURDAY IN THE U.S.-
WHERE AN FBI INTELLIGENCE BULLETIN ISSUED EARLIER THIS MONTH DETAILED NUMEROUS ACTS OF ARSON, GUNFIRE, AND VANDALISM AGAINST THE COMPANY’S PROPERTIES IN AT LEAST NINE STATES.
AMID ALL OF THIS, TESLA’S STOCK PRICE HAS SUFFERED, FALLING ALMOST 50 PERCENT SINCE ITS DECEMBER PEAK.
MUSK ACKNOWLEDGED HIS WORK ALONGSIDE TRUMP CONTRIBUTED TO THIS-
CALLING HIS GOVERNMENT POSITION A QUOTE “VERY EXPENSIVE JOB”-
WHILE ALSO PREDICITING TESLA STOCK WILL ULTIMATELY REBOUND IN THE LONG RUN.
FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M JACK AYLMER.