Man drives car into anti-Tesla protesters | US News

A man has been arrested after he drove his car into protesters outside a Tesla showroom in Florida, police in the US have said.

Andrew Dutil drove at slow speed as he mounted a pavement where demonstrators were standing, forcing people to move away to avoid being hit, the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office said.

No one was hurt in the incident outside the dealership in the county in Florida on Saturday.

Dutil was arrested for alleged assault, court records said.

Protests and attacks at Tesla have become common across the US since the company’s founder, Elon Musk, took a leading role in Donald Trump’s administration.

The tech billionaire has led funding and job-cutting measures at the newly created Department of Government Effeciency (DOGE), claiming he is seeking to stop government waste, fraud, and abuse.

Critics say his aim is to destroy government departments and ultimately to consolidate his wealth and power.

At least 10 Tesla dealerships, charging stations and facilities have been hit by vandals, NBC, Sky News’ US partner, said.

Shots were fired and Molotov cocktails thrown at a Tesla dealership in Salem, Oregon earlier this month.

A man who was armed with an AR-15 rifle was charged over the incident, the US Department of Justice said on Thursday.

Another person was charged for allegedly using Molotov cocktails to set Teslas on fire in Loveland, Colorado.

A third person was charged for allegedly writing “profane messages against President Trump” around Tesla charging stations before setting stations on fire with petrol bombs in Charleston, South Carolina, the department said in a statement.

The US attorney general Pamela Bondi said they were part of a “wave of domestic terrorism” and warned they could be jailed for up to 20 years if convicted.

Palm Beach County is also home to the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort, which the president has called the “Centre of the Universe” on social media.

Mr Trump has also called those attacking Teslas “terrorists”.

Read more:
What’s gone wrong at Tesla?
Tesla investor calls on Musk to quit
Where are Trump’s opponents?

Last week, almost all Tesla Cybertrucks were recalled due to what US regulators called a “dangerous road hazard” that increases the risk of a crash.

It is the eighth recall of the Tesla vehicle for safety problems in 15 months.