19-year-old charged in Kansas City Tesla facility arson fire
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 19-year-old from Kansas City has been arrested and charged in connection with an arson attack at a Tesla dealership, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
This comes after two Tesla Cybertrucks were damaged in what the FBI says was an arson attack at a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, Missouri.
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FBI Director Kash Patel took to X to announce the charges, which stem from the incident on March 17.
“This is our second Tesla-related arrest this week as our FBI teams continue our aggressive work to crack down on domestic terrorism cases like this one. @AGPamBondi has given us the support to pursue these cases, and we are acting accordingly,” Patel wrote.
The press release says the 19-year-old charged, identified as Owen McIntire, is a Kansas City resident who attends college in Boston. He’s accused of committing arson while he was back in Kansas City for spring break, the release says.
McIntire is being charged with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of malicious damage by fire of any property using in interstate commerce.
The charges allege that McIntire used a Molotov cocktail to damage the dealership and vehicles.
“Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi.
“You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”
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On March 17 around 11:15 p.m., a KCPD officer noticed smoke coming from a Cybertruck at the dealership and an unbroken Molotov cocktail near the truck. According to records, the fire from the first truck spread to another before KCFD arrived to extinguish it.
The release also claims that two charging stations were also damaged in the fire.
McIntire made his first court appearance on Friday, April 18, in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts.
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