“They basically want to kill me because I am stopping their fraud” - Attacks on Elon Musk, Tesla, and Swatting Incidents Targeting X Influencers

March 19, 2025 — Recent months have seen a surge in physical attacks against Musk and his flagship company, Tesla, including arson, alongside a troubling wave of swatting incidents targeting prominent conservative influencers on his social media platform, X. Musk, who has taken on a high-profile role in President Donald Trump’s administration as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), has become a lightning rod for controversy. His bold claim in a recent Fox News interview—“They basically want to kill me because I am stopping their fraud”—has ignited fierce debate about the motives behind these incidents and the broader political and cultural forces at play.

Since Musk assumed his influential position in the Trump administration in January 2025, Tesla properties across the United States and abroad have faced an unprecedented wave of vandalism and protests. Tesla dealerships, charging stations, and privately owned vehicles have been targeted with everything from Molotov cocktails to graffiti, reflecting a growing backlash against Musk’s political activities. In Las Vegas, Nevada, an arsonist used Molotov cocktails to set fire to five Teslas at a dealership on March 18, later returning to fire rounds into the burning vehicles. Surveillance footage captured the suspect, identified as Adam Lansky by local authorities, who has since been apprehended and charged. No injuries were reported, but the incident underscored the intensity of the animosity directed at Musk’s company.

Similar scenes have unfolded elsewhere. In Portland, Oregon, and Seattle—cities known for their progressive leanings—Tesla showrooms have been pelted with eggs, spray-painted with anti-Musk slogans like “Musk Must Go,” and even firebombed. In Southborough, Massachusetts, a Tesla Cybertruck owner found a “Nazis f-ck off” sticker affixed to his bumper, while in Brookline, police arrested a man for placing stickers of Musk in a fascist salute on multiple Tesla vehicles. Overseas, the unrest has spread to Berlin, where an image of Musk raising his arm in a controversial gesture was projected onto a Tesla factory, and in Milan, where an effigy of the billionaire was hung in protest.

The financial toll on Tesla has been significant. The company’s stock has plummeted, losing roughly a quarter of its value since the protests began, with analysts at JP Morgan noting to Quartz on March 12 that the brand’s rapid loss of value is unprecedented in the automotive industry. Tesla owners, too, are feeling the heat. Some have resorted to selling their vehicles at a loss or affixing bumper stickers reading “I bought this before Elon went crazy” to distance themselves from the controversy. Online forums like Tesla Motors Club have buzzed with discussions about navigating the “anti-Tesla sentiment,” with hundreds of owners weighing their options amid the chaos.

Musk has publicly decried these attacks, calling them “insane and deeply wrong” in a post on X on March 18. “Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks,” he wrote, echoing sentiments he expressed on Fox News, where he suggested a conspiracy fueled by “larger forces” opposed to his efforts to curb government waste. While he has not provided concrete evidence, his comments align with statements from Attorney General Pam Bondi, who on March 17 vowed to investigate those “operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”

At the heart of Musk’s provocative statement—“They basically want to kill me because I am stopping their fraud”—lies his work with DOGE, an unofficial entity tasked with slashing federal government spending and restructuring agencies. Since January, Musk has overseen sweeping changes, including the firing of tens of thousands of federal employees and proposals to eliminate departments like the Department of Education and the Social Security Administration. His most contentious move has been the push to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which he labeled a “criminal organization” on X, prompting its signage to be removed from its Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Musk contends that these reforms are exposing systemic corruption, claiming DOGE has saved the government an estimated $115 billion—a figure widely disputed by critics who argue it lacks substantiation. In his Fox News appearance, he accused unnamed parties of benefiting “fraudulently” from government funds, suggesting their anger at losing this revenue is driving the attacks on him and Tesla. “It turns out when you take away the money they’re receiving fraudulently, they get very upset,” he told host Sean Hannity, adding, “I’ve never done anything harmful, I’ve only done productive things.”

Critics, however, see Musk’s rhetoric as inflammatory and unfounded. Valerie Costa, a Seattle-based activist with the Tesla Takedown movement, which organizes peaceful protests against Tesla showrooms, dismissed Musk’s accusations as baseless. In an interview with NPR on March 17, Costa—who Musk personally accused of “committing crimes” on X—said, “We’re not Act Blue funded. We have no connection to Act Blue. We have like $3,000 in our bank account.” She emphasized that the decentralized movement, with over 91 protests planned worldwide this coming weekend, aims to hurt Tesla’s value as a symbolic stand against Musk’s influence, not to perpetrate violence.

President Trump has staunchly defended Musk, holding an event on the White House lawn last week where he vowed to classify vandalism against Tesla as “domestic terrorism.” Standing beside a row of Teslas, Trump declared, “If we catch anybody doing it, because they’re harming a great American company, they’re going to go through hell.” The White House’s backing has only intensified the polarized reactions, with some praising Musk as a reformer and others decrying his unchecked power.

Parallel to the attacks on Tesla, a disturbing trend of swatting—false emergency calls designed to provoke armed police responses—has targeted prominent conservative influencers on X, many of whom are vocal supporters of Musk and Trump. On March 13, influencer Gunther Eagleman reported on X that his home was swatted, with a caller alleging a fake hostage situation. “Fortunately, I have good relations with law enforcement, and extra patrols will be added,” he wrote, vowing to track down the culprit.

The same week, Chase Geiser of InfoWars was swatted twice within 12 hours, describing a harrowing ordeal on March 12 where police handcuffed him in the street and woke his wife to investigate a fabricated threat. Nick Sortor, with over 900,000 followers on X, revealed on March 13 that his father’s home was targeted, with a dozen officers arriving at gunpoint after a caller claimed Sortor’s father was killing his family. “This is literal terrorism,” Sortor posted, urging the FBI to intervene.

Perhaps most notably, the popular X account “Catturd,” a favorite of Musk’s with millions of followers, was swatted for the fourth time on March 13, according to journalist Breanna Morello. These incidents, concentrated among influencers Musk frequently engages with, have fueled speculation of a coordinated campaign. On March 14, the FBI announced it was investigating an “alarming rise in swatting incidents” targeting conservative voices, though no definitive link to the Tesla attacks has been established.

The convergence of these events has sparked rampant theorizing. Musk and his allies, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, have pointed fingers at “left-wing groups,” with Musk questioning on X, “Who’s funding them?” after a post suggested the Tesla protests were organized via Facebook groups rather than his tightly monitored platform. Others, like sociologist Randy Blazak, told PBS News on March 19 that Tesla’s visibility makes it an “easy target” for broader anti-Trump and anti-Musk sentiment, a role Trump’s properties played during his first term.

Yet, concrete evidence of a grand conspiracy remains elusive. The progressive group Indivisible, which has guided “Musk Or Us” protests, insisted to PBS that its efforts are peaceful and transparent, explicitly condemning violence. Meanwhile, law enforcement agencies, from local police to the ATF and FBI, are piecing together individual cases—arresting suspects like Lansky in Las Vegas and a Colorado woman charged with throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in February—without yet confirming a unified motive or orchestrator.

As of March 19, 2025, the situation remains fluid and fraught. Musk’s assertion that “they want to kill me” encapsulates his belief in a personal vendetta tied to his reforms, but it also amplifies the stakes in an already volatile cultural clash. For Tesla, the fallout is tangible: declining sales, a battered brand, and a customer base wrestling with its loyalty. For X influencers, the swatting incidents signal a dangerous escalation in online battles spilling into the real world. And for Musk himself, the line between visionary disruptor and polarizing lightning rod has never been thinner.

These attacks and incidents represent a coordinated assault: Elon Musk’s outsized role in business, technology, and now politics has made him—and those associated with him—targets in a way few could have foreseen. As investigations continue and tensions simmer, the world watches to see how this saga will unfold. 17GEN4.com