Texas Tesla Owner Sues Vandal for $1 Million For Keying His Model X

An anonymous Tesla owner in Texas is suing a vandal for $1 million after the man was caught on video keying his Model X.

Rafael Hernandez, 56, was arrested and charged with felony criminal mischief over the weekend for vandalizing the Tesla at DFW airport in March, CBS News Texas reported.

Hernandez is one of countless Democrats who have been caught in recent weeks keying Teslas and harassing Tesla owners to show their disapproval of Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration.

Hernandez was booked on March 22 and faces a maximum fine of $20,000.

“It’s just kind of mind-boggling to me that there are people who are so triggered and so disturbed by anything these days that they can go so far as to just cause harm to somebody,” the plaintiff told CBS Texas following the incident.

The man is seeking $1 million in damages in his civil lawsuit against Hernandez, citing damage to the car, lost wages, and emotional duress.

“It’s a fine line between civility and anarchy,” said lawyer Majed Nachawati, who represents the owner. “This matter has nothing to do with his political persuasions or affiliations. He happens to believe that Tesla, his Model X, is one of the best cars he’s ever owned. And he enjoys driving it, plain and simple.”

In a sad testament to the current state of affairs, the Tesla owner is identified in the lawsuit only by his initials due to fear of threats.

Nachawati told CBS Texas that his client wants to “send a message” with the lawsuit to discourage further acts of political violence.

“We don’t allow people to act out based on what they believe their political affiliations are and what upsets them and who they are upset with, and allow them to take things into their own hands and become essentially a vigilante… What does that say about our country?” the lawyer said. “Whether you’re a Republican, whether you’re a Democrat, I believe anyone who sees the video and who sees what happened would believe that deterrence would be the biggest part of this case.”

Dozens of vandals have been caught on video keying Tesla vehicles in recent weeks as part of a leftwing backlash against Musk’s mission to eliminate waste and fraud from the federal government.

Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations and privately owned cars have also been targeted with graffiti and firebombs. In a few cases, unhinged Democrats have harassed individual Tesla owners while driving in their EV vehicles.

Left-wing organizers planned a “global day of action” to “Take Down” Tesla on March 29, which aimed for protests at 277 locations in the U.S. and 500 Tesla locations around the world. The event largely fizzled with only dozens of protesters appearing at each location.

Teslarati, a multimedia platform affiliated with Elon Musk, opined that the lawsuit should be “the first of many” against the “brainwashed members the “Tesla TakeDown” movement

“I am hopeful that this lawsuit will encourage Tesla owners to go after the violent vandals who have had their cars damaged by senseless people who have differing political views,” wrote Teslarati’s Joey Klender. “Perhaps this is the move that will start to bring down the frequency of these attacks.”

Musk said on Fox News Tuesday that the Trump administration needs to “go after the generals” in order to put a stop to the attacks.

“This is fundamentally a case of terrorism. It’s wide-scale domestic terrorism with the purpose of intimidation, and it’s harming innocent people. It’s really terrible,” Musk said on “The Five.”

“What we actually have to get to are the people who are organizing and paying for these attacks and protests. That’s who we really need to go after, because the people that were actually throwing the Molotov cocktails — they’re the foot soldiers, but we need to go after the generals.”