Driving a Tesla ‘has become toxic’: Owners scrubbing off logos amid rising Elon Musk anger

Some Tesla owners are taking extreme steps to protect themselves from vandalism as acts of aggression against Tesla, Tesla owners, and Elon Musk himself ramp up across the nation.

Using a heat gun, screw gun, and fishing line, Jordan Schwartz revealed to KING 5 that he removed the Tesla logos from his vehicle.

“It’s symbolic, but I think symbols matter,” Schwartz told KING 5. “It’s tearing down a flag; it’s raising a flag.”

But, according to Schwartz, he’s not removing the logos from his car out of fear of retaliation but out of concern for Musk’s politics and that he might be an antisemite.

“I won’t be cowed by Nazis or people on the left,” Schwartz continued. “I am doing this because I want to make a statement about my ideology. Not out of fear.”

He has since removed Tesla logos for several other people’s cars, with owners wanting them gone for wide-ranging reasons. Schwartz told KING 5 that he would remove the logos for any Tesla owners who wanted the job done. Schwartz even developed a step-by-step guide on how to remove the Tesla logos.

“There’s no denying (Musk) is actively undermining democracy and dismantling institutions that care for people in need,” Schwartz wrote in his guide. “Driving a car made by his company has become toxic.”

According to KING 5, Teslas are currently the most common electric vehicles on the used car market. Used Teslas have an average price tag of approximately $30,000. Three years ago, used Teslas were going for $70,000 on average.

Attacks against Tesla on the rise

Tesla owners have been victims of attacks, vandalism, and harassment since the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, became the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) within the Trump administration.

According to the Justice Department, which is beginning to charge people for vandalizing or destroying Tesla vehicles, one suspect threw eight Molotov cocktails at a dealership in Salem, Oregon, while another suspect attempted to light Teslas on fire with Molotov cocktails in Loveland, Colorado. A third person “wrote profane messages against President Trump around Tesla charging stations before lighting the charging stations on fire” in Charleston, South Carolina.

The car brand has even become a target internationally, as four Teslas were torched in Berlin, Germany.

Locally, six Teslas at a dealership in Lynnwood were vandalized with swastikas and profane language directly related to Elon Musk. In another instance, a man was seen pouring gasoline on the hood of a white Tesla and setting it on fire in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.

Last weekend, demonstrators gathered outside a Tesla dealership on Highway 99 in Lynnwood. Similar protests occurred in Virginia, Tennessee, New York City, and Florida.

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