Are Tesla owners at risk of vandalism following Musk controversy?

euronews (in English)

Images have been going around online that claim to show Tesla cars defaced with swastikas, following Elon Musk's actions at Trump's inauguration rally, where he performed a gesture that was likened to a Nazi salute.

Transcript

00:00Are Tesla owners at risk following the Musk controversy?

00:08A photo of a white Tesla parked in Vienna and defaced with a large red swastika is doing

00:14the rounds on social media. It's shared with captions such as this one on X,

00:19which suggests that Tesla owners and their cars are likely to be targeted following the recent,

00:24highly controversial actions of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

00:28This post on Reddit similarly claims that the car in the photo has been

00:31upgraded to fit with Musk, hinting that the vandalism took place recently,

00:36and this post on X shows an apparent Tesla owner concerned about driving his car in Austria.

00:42Musk shocked the world when he made two gestures at US President Donald Trump's inauguration rally,

00:47which were likened to a Nazi salute. A reverse image search shows us

00:51that this particular photo isn't anything to do with the recent backlash against Musk.

00:56It was taken in November 2023 and published as part of a story about a series of vandalism

01:01attacks in Vienna, according to news reports at the time. Nevertheless, it is true that Tesla

01:07stores and showrooms have been defaced following Musk's actions at Trump's inauguration.

01:12In recent weeks, reports have emerged of vandals spraying swastikas and anti-fascist

01:17slogans at a Tesla building in The Hague, while near Berlin, an image of Musk's gesture

01:22and the word Heil was projected onto the wall of a Tesla factory. There are also seemingly more

01:28abusable reports of Tesla's belonging to individuals in the US being defaced, as well as

01:33threats to their owners. Aside from vandalism, Tesla has seen its sales slump across Europe

01:39following Musk's actions. Some have linked the company's losses to Musk's embrace of far-right

01:44political figures and views, his amplification of conspiracy theories and misinformation on

01:49social media, and his close alliance with Trump.

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