A federal grand jury indicted Ian William Moses, 35, on Wednesday for allegedly setting a new Cybertruck on fire outside a Tesla dealership located in Mesa. Mesa Police arrested him on his bike shortly after he was seen on video a little before 2 a.m. placing fire logs around the vehicle, pouring gasoline on them, then igniting the logs. He was charged with five counts of Malicious Damage to Property in Interstate Commerce.
“If you engage in domestic terrorism, this Department of Justice will find you, follow the facts, and prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi in the DOJ’s press release. “No negotiating.”
“There is nothing American about burning down someone else’s business because you disagree with them politically,” said U.S. Attorney Timothy Courchaine. “These ongoing attacks against Tesla are not protests, they are acts of violence that have no place in Arizona or anywhere else. If someone targets Tesla with violence, they will be found and confronted with the full force of the law.”
“I would like to recognize the outstanding efforts of the Superstition District Patrol officers who played a crucial role in this investigation. Their swift action in identifying and monitoring the suspicious van parked near the dealership was critical to the success of this operation. I am truly grateful for their diligent police work,” said Mesa Police Chief Ken Cost.
Musk owns approximately 13 percent of the company. While Tesla’s stock value has been somewhat volatile since Trump took office, it remains fairly high at $287.21. It averaged $181.06 in 2023 and $123.18 in 2022. The Model Y was the best-selling car in the world in 2023, the first for an electric vehicle (EV). Tesla holds the largest EV market share in the U.S., at 43.4 percent. Tesla’s market share across all vehicle types in the U.S. is approximately 4 percent.
