NORTH CHARLESTON — Onlookers near a Mellow Mushroom pizzeria watched as a masked man spray painted "(expletive) TRUMP LONG LIVE UKRAINE" near a bank of Tesla charging stations before setting himself on fire as he tried to burn the electric vehicle ports, according to a local police report.
After vandalizing the vehicle on March 7, the masked man in a gray jacket or hoodie pulled out beer bottles and set them on fire. He hurled the bottles at three electric vehicle charging ports near 4855 Tanger Outlet Blvd. In the process, he set himself on fire, according to North Charleston police.
Damages were estimated at $60,000, according to North Charleston police.
The man, who police did not arrest or identify, fled when people began calling 911. Witnesses watched as he ran past a nearby Zaxby's restaurant and towards the hotels behind it.
Critics of Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, and President Donald Trump's have targeted Tesla's stores with acts of protests and vandalism in recent weeks, according to The Associated Press.
In Boston, 12 charging stations were set on fire this month in an apparent act of protest against the tech billionaire, The New York Times reported.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive has taken over the investigation, Harve Jacobs, spokesman for the North Charleston police department said.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story based on the initial incident report from North Charleston police indicated that witnesses told law enforcement the masked man had set himself on fire when he was throwing the Molotov cocktails. A federal criminal complaint against Daniel Brendan Clarke-Pounder does not make specific allegations that the 24-year-old James Island man's clothes caught fire during the alleged arson. Investigators with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives recovered the clothes that resembled those worn by the masked man seen in security footage and by witnesses. Photos of the clothing did not note any burns and Clarke-Pounder did not appear injured when he appeared in federal court.