College student faces serious prison sentence for firebombing Tesla dealership
The college student accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership in Kansas City faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted on all charges.
Owen McIntire, who has been released to receive gender-affirming care, allegedly hurled Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership, blowing up two cars and causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages in March, officials said.
The 19-year-old UMass Boston student has pleaded not guilty to malicious destruction of property and unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device. He faces up to 30 years, if convicted on all counts, according to the Kansas City Star.
His case was elevated to the Department of Justice’s national security division, which is typically focused on terrorism and espionage, after Attorney General Pam Bondi labeled the incident a case of “domestic terrorism.”
“Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us,” Bondi said in April in announcing McIntire’s arrest. “You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”
Federal authorities responded sharply to dozens of reports of vandalism at Tesla dealerships across the country in an apparent protest against Tesla CEO and President Trump’s pal Elon Musk, who at the time was serving as the head of the administration’s cost-cutting agency DOGE.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a new task force for investigating such reports.
Trump even suggested sending the criminals to serve 20-year jail sentences in El Salvador, where the US recently rented out a prison for deported illegal alleged gang members.
Last month, McIntire was granted release by a judge due to “serious and ongoing” medical needs — which include gender-affirming medical care that requires daily medication as well as mental health support.
McIntire is on the autism spectrum and was diagnosed with both ADHD and depression, all of which require medications and treatments that excuse him from remaining in prison, his lawyers successfully argued.
He was allowed to move to his parents’ Parkville, Missouri, home but must wear an ankle monitor and abide by other conditions, according to the Kansas City Star,
Prosecutors wanted to keep McIntire in custody ahead of his trial.
His trial is set for Aug. 11.