WASHINGTON — President Trump suggested Friday that three Americans hit with federal charges for allegedly vandalizing Tesla vehicles and charging stations should serve 20-year prison sentences alongside Venezuelan gang members in a notorious El Salvador prison.
“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”
Tesla, headed by Trump’s right-hand man Elon Musk, has been the focus of a string of guerilla attacks as the Department of Government Efficiency figurehead has unleashed policies upending the federal government.
The attacks range from Tesla vehicles being keyed to lit on fire and shot at, while charging stations have similarly been torched with Molotov cocktails.
Musk’s critics take issue with him not being elected into office, yet having a massive role in advising Trump and federal agencies on reducing spending — including on payroll.
On Thursday, Attorney General Pam Bondi called the attacks on Tesla vehicles and facilities “domestic terrorism” and said three individuals are facing up to 20 years in prison for targeting the automaker with guns and homemade firebombs.
“Let this be a warning: If you join this wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, the Department of Justice will put you behind bars,” Bondi said.
Adam Matthew Lansky, 41, allegedly brought eight Molotov cocktails and an AR-15 to a Tesla dealership in Salem, Ore. to wreak havoc on the vehicles on two separate occasions Jan. 20 and Feb. 19. He’s being charged with unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm.
Lucy Grace Nelson, 40, is being charged with malicious destruction of property after allegedly trying to light Tesla vehicles on fire and spraying “Nazi cars” on them in Loveland, Colo.
In South Carolina, Daniel Clarke-Pounder is accused of writing “F— Trump” and “Long live the Ukraine” on the vehicles before lighting them — and himself — up with Molotov cocktails.
Although Bondi labeled the attacks as “domestic terrorism,” no such charge has been brought in any of the three cases.
Soon after Trump took office, the US secured a $6 million deal with the government of El Salvador to house deported migrant gang members.
The migrants, whom the Trump administration said were members of the vicious Tren de Aragua underworld group, were rounded up and deported last weekend under the Alien Enemies Act and sent to the Center for Terrorism Confinement, about an hour southeast of the capital, San Salvador.
The prison has developed a reputation for hideous conditions and overcrowding, with inmates sometimes confined 24 hours per day and given minimal food.
Trump has repeatedly offered support to Musk in recent weeks, even buying a Tesla during a White House ceremony March 11.
“We’re going to catch you,” Trump addressed the vandals at the time, “and you’re going to go through hell.”
