The FBI told Americans to be wary about recent recurring incidents targeting Tesla vehicles, dealerships and charging stations nationwide, according to a March 21 public service announcement.
These nationwide incidents are partially due to the widespread polarization surrounding Elon Musk’s involvement under the Trump administration. President Donald Trump appointed Musk to oversee the Department of Government Efficiency, also known as DOGE, which Trump created at the beginning of his second term. This placed Musk in a leadership role within the federal government that few active business executives have held, said Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project.
The appointment caused Texas Democratic voters’ disapproval of Musk to increase significantly, from 48% to 71% from December to February, according to research by the Texas Politics Project. However, the favorability of Trump and Musk remains steady among Texas Republican voters.
“It’s very unusual for a particular business executive to be so clearly associated with his own business brands,” Blank said. “Musk is relatively unique in that people know that Tesla is Elon Musk’s company.”
Blank said direct and public association with a brand is not common for the vast majority of business owners in America. He said the negative feelings voters have toward Musk and his role in DOGE, with the reduction of the federal government, translates onto his brands.
“I like Elon Musk more than most people,” said Kelvin Kast, a Tesla driver living in West Campus. “Some of his decisions I don’t like, but I do like that he likes free speech. I am very happy about ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) because we were heading down a slippery slope where a bunch of free speech is being censored — I don’t like censorship.”
Kast, who parks in his apartment’s parking garage, said he is aware of the vandalism and negative public opinion surrounding Musk and Tesla but is not worried about it due to Tesla’s sentry mode feature, which records any detected activity around the vehicle when equipped.
“I used to rave, ‘Oh, I love owning my Tesla,’” biomedical engineering freshman Charles Serrano said. “‘It’s such a cool car to drive. It’s like a computer on wheels,’ but now I don’t really talk about it because it’s like, ‘Oh my God, that guy drives a Tesla.’”
Having owned a Tesla since 2023, Serrano said everything was great for a year, but when public perception about Musk changed, he was not sure he loved his car anymore. He said he disagrees with Musk and his work in DOGE.
Serrano parks his Tesla in Trinity Garage overnight but parks in other locations maintained by UT’s Parking and Transportation Services.
Parking and Transportation Services regularly check the lighting and place electric vehicle charging stations in high-traffic areas near elevators to deter vandalism. Additionally, emergency call boxes are present for those in the garages to contact the UT Police Department to report a safety issue or crime, said Blanca Gamez, director of Parking and Transportation Services.
Currently, UTPD is unaware of any incidents of vandalism or damage to Tesla vehicles inside its jurisdiction, which extends to UT-owned parking garages in West and East Campus, said Ivan Ramos, a public information officer for UTPD.
Serrano said people are not always able to go back and regret what they purchased at the time, especially considering that Democrats view electric vehicles more favorably than Republicans.
“I’m sort of embarrassed for supporting such a brand, and I’m not sure that (vandalizers) realize that other people are also in the same shoes,” Serrano said. “I think that it’s not fair to believe that every Tesla owner is a raging Republican that loves Elon Musk.”
