By JACQUES BILLEAUD
A man accused of setting fire to Tesla vehicles in Las Vegas will remain jailed until his trial on federal charges of arson and possessing an explosive device, a judge ruled Monday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Elayna Youchah concluded no pretrial release conditions could be imposed on Paul Hyon Kim, 36, to assure the public’s safety, citing the dangerous nature of the crimes and saying it wasn’t a matter of burglary or simple vandalism.
“What occurred in this instance was so much more violent and dangerous than those acts. The acts appeared to be intended to create fear,” Youchah said.
The judge also said she found it fair to say “the intent of the act was to influence and potentially coerce others into action.”
Authorities say Kim threw Molotov cocktails at vehicles and fired several gunshots in a Tesla service center’s parking lot early March 18. No one was injured.
Security video played at a police news conference last week showed the suspect, dressed all in black and covering his face, paint the word “resist” across the glass doors of the service center.
Prosecutor Jacob Operskalski said Kim posed a danger to the community. He said it wasn’t clear what Kim mean by writing “resist” on the doors.
“We can surmise the defendant is going to resist court orders,” Operskalski said.
Michael Becker, an attorney representing Kim, called the attack a “glorified property crime with political overtones” and said “(Tesla CEO) Elon Musk’s undue influence on our federal government cannot be overstated enough.”
There has been an uptick of attacks on property with the Tesla logo across the U.S. since President Donald Trump took office and tapped Musk for a prominent role overseeing a new Department of Government Efficiency that has conducted large-scale federal layoffs.
Some of the most prominent instances have taken place in left-leaning cities in the Pacific Northwest.
Authorities say an Oregon man threw several Molotov cocktails at a Tesla store in Salem, then returned another day and shot out windows. In the Portland suburb of Tigard, more than a dozen bullets were fired at a Tesla showroom, damaging vehicles and windows.
A 70-year-old Idaho man was arrested Saturday for aggravated battery after allegedly driving his vehicle into a man who had been driving a pickup with pro-Trump flags during a protest at a Tesla dealership in suburban Boise. The pickup driver drove himself to a hospital, where he was treated and released.
Prosecutors in Colorado have charged a woman in connection with attacks on Tesla dealerships that authorities say also included Molotov cocktails thrown at vehicles and the words “Nazi cars” spray-painted on a building. And federal agents in South Carolina have arrested a man accused of setting fire to Tesla charging stations near Charleston.
Associated Press writer Mark Thiessen in Anchorage, Alaska, contributed to this story.