KC Reporter

A Kansas City resident named Owen McIntire, a college student in Boston, has been arrested and charged in connection with an arson incident at a Tesla business in Kansas City, Missouri. McIntire, 19, faces charges of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and malicious damage by fire of property used in interstate commerce, as outlined in a complaint from the Western District of Missouri, which was made public recently.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi issued a firm warning, stating, "Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us...You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it." Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche emphasized the severity of such crimes, asserting, "Crimes have consequences. The people behind these violent and dangerous attacks...will face decades in prison."

FBI Director Kash Patel highlighted this arrest as the second recent case involving attacks on Tesla, underscoring the agency's commitment to addressing such destructive acts. "These actions are dangerous, they are illegal, and we are going to arrest those responsible," he said.

Dan Driscoll, Acting Director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), described the act as a deliberate attack rather than vandalism, crediting ATF's Special Agents and forensic experts with recovering and analyzing key evidence. "This wasn’t vandalism—it was a violent criminal act," Driscoll stated.

On March 17, at approximately 11:16 p.m., an officer with the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department observed smoke coming from a grey Cybertruck at the Kansas City Tesla Center, with an unbroken incendiary device nearby. This device, a Molotov cocktail, was recovered by the police. The fire affected two Cybertrucks and caused damage to two charging stations, with the affected vehicles valued at over $105,000 each and the charging stations at approximately $550 each.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sean Foley and Trey Alford for the Western District of Missouri, along with Trial Attorney Patrick Cashman of the National Security Division's Counterterrorism Section. The investigation is a joint effort by the FBI’s Kansas City and Boston Field Offices, the ATF, and the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.

It is important to note that a criminal complaint is an allegation and all defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.