Law enforcement in Washington, D.C., announced the arrest of two people in connection with defacing Tesla vehicles as the company faces protests and attacks over CEO Elon Musk‘s work in the Trump administration.
The Metropolitan Police Department said Justin Fisher, 49, and Emily Fisher, 50, vandalized four vehicles between March 1 and 21 by writing “political hate speech” on them. Officials also said Justin Fisher defaced two other vehicles on March 9 and 12. The department previously said it would investigate these alleged crimes as hate crimes.
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Both suspects turned themselves in at MPD District Stations on Tuesday and Wednesday. Justin Fisher was charged with eight counts of defacing public or private property, while Emily Fisher was charged with five counts of defacing public or private property for the alleged crimes.
“The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating these offenses as potentially being motivated by Political Affiliation hate or bias as outlined in D.C. Official Code § 22-3701. The designation can be changed at any point as an investigation proceeds and more information is gathered. A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime,” MPD said in a statement Thursday.
The arrests come amid a wave of attacks on Teslas by people opposed to Musk’s work with President Donald Trump through the Department of Government Efficiency and its effort to cut the size of the federal government.
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Protests include the “Tesla Takedown Global Day of Action” last month by anti-Musk demonstrators. Some of the attacks on the company and its vehicles in recent weeks have been deemed acts of domestic terrorism by the Justice Department.
Earlier this week, Tesla reported a 13% drop in deliveries last quarter, compared to the same time last year, dropping from the 386,810 deliveries it reported in the first quarter of 2024 to 336,681 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter of 2025.
