In a disturbing example of left-wing hostility toward Elon Musk’s Tesla, a Minnesota state employee has been accused of vandalizing the very cars Democratic leaders have mocked in public.
Dylan Bryan Adams, a 33-year-old fiscal policy analyst for Minnesota’s Department of Human Services, was arrested for allegedly keying multiple Teslas in Minneapolis — causing an estimated $20,000 in damage. According to local crime watch footage, Adams was caught on camera walking his dog while deliberately dragging his keys down the sides of Tesla vehicles, stripping paint off the exteriors. The same dog reportedly appeared in several separate incidents, suggesting a pattern of targeted attacks.
Footage released on X (formerly Twitter) by a local crime watch group showed Adams “aggressively carving into two separate Teslas.”
A spokesperson for Governor Tim Walz was quick to distance the administration from the suspect, claiming Adams is “not a political appointee” and merely one of over 40,000 working as a state employee. Nevertheless, the timing of the arrest raises eyebrows, coming just weeks after Walz took a cheap shot at Tesla during a public rally.
At a Wisconsin event, Walz mocked the company’s declining stock, saying, “I added Tesla to [my stock app] to give me a little boost during the day — $225 and dropping.” He went further, adding: “And if you own one, we’re not blaming you. You can take dental floss and pull the Tesla thing off.” Walz later tried to dismiss the remarks as “a joke.”
But the damage may already be done — not just to Teslas, but to public trust. The incident coincides with a broader wave of anti-Tesla violence across the country. The FBI recently launched a task force and is now treating these attacks as “domestic terrorism.” Vandals have destroyed Tesla cars, dealerships, and charging stations in what appears to be a politically motivated backlash against Musk, who now leads President Trump’s cost-cutting Department of Environmental Efficiency.
Musk, who has remained defiant in the face of growing hostility, defended the company in a Fox News interview: “Tesla’s a peaceful company that has made great cars, great products — that’s all it’s done.”
This troubling incident underscores a growing trend: the weaponization of political rhetoric against private companies — and the real-world consequences that can follow.
