Justice Department charges man with arson at New Mexico Tesla dealership and GOP headquarters
Apr 14, 2025, 11:55 AM
The charred doors that used to make up the entrance to the Republican Party of New Mexico headquarters are propped up behind yellow caution tape in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Monday, March 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
Credit: ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
WASHINGTON (AP) 鈥� The Justice Department has charged a man with vandalizing a Tesla dealership in New Mexico and setting fire to the headquarters of the state Republican Party, according to court records unsealed Monday.
A criminal complaint charges Jamison R. Wagner, 40, with federal arson charges in connection with the vandalism in February at a Tesla showroom in Bernalillo, where authorities found two Tesla Model Y vehicles ablaze as well as spray-painted graffiti messages including 鈥淒ie Elon” and 鈥淒ie Tesla Nazi.鈥�
Elon Musk is the billionaire CEO of Tesla and a close ally of President Donald Trump who has helped engineer a massive downsizing of the federal government and purge of employees.
The arrest is part of a federal crackdown on what the attorney general has described as a wave of domestic terrorism against property carrying the logo of Musk鈥檚 electric-car company.
Attorney General Pam Bondi previewed the arrest Thursday during a Cabinet meeting to highlight federal law enforcements’ efforts to go after vandals in recent weeks targeting the electric-car company.
Wagner is also charged in connection with a fire last month at the Albuquerque headquarters of the New Mexico Republican Party. The fire badly burned the entrance and caused extensive smoke damage throughout the office, authorities said. Republican representatives also found spray paint on the side of the building about 50 feet (15 meters) from the entrance, saying 鈥淚CE=KKK,鈥� according to New Mexico Republican Party Chair Amy Barela.
During a search of Wagner鈥檚 home and garage, investigators found eight assembled suspected incendiary devices, black and red spray paint and a cardboard stencil with the phrase 鈥淚CE=KKK鈥� that had red spray paint on it, according to court papers.
An attorney for Wagner didn鈥檛 immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Justice Department has charged four other cases against people accused of using Molotov cocktails to destroy Tesla cars and fire stations. The FBI last month created a task force to coordinate investigate efforts around the attacks with officials at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Bondi has suggested prosecutors will make no plea deals with those charged in the Tesla attacks, telling the president at the White House Thursday that 鈥渢here will be no negotiations, at your directive.鈥�
