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Year: 2025

Violent attacks from anti-Musk, anti-Trump protesters plague nation, compel GOP lawmakers to take precautions

Violent attacks from anti-Musk, anti-Trump protesters plague nation, compel GOP lawmakers to take precautions

A spate of violent incidents targeting Tesla car owners, dealerships, charging stations and Republicans in general have been a common occurrence since President Donald Trump took office, compelling some GOP lawmakers to take certain safety measures. The pattern of violent incidents comes after a new report from the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), which found that increasingly violent rhetoric online is becoming more normalized than ever. NCRI’s findings showed that more than half of left-leaning respondents said killing Trump would be at least “somewhat justified.” The increased normalization of violent rhetoric was exhibited in audio recordings of voice mails and handwritten letters sent to GOP North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis. “Thom Tillis, afraid of death threats? Then get the f— out of office,” a caller said in a voicemail sent to the senator’s office. In an unsigned letter sent to Tillis, his staffers were referred to as “sacrificial lambs” who “signed up to be [Tillis’s] shield.” Citing the uptick in “Democrat threats of violence,” GOP Wyoming Rep. Harriet Hageman moved all of her in-person town halls online. The move came after an incident in which an attendee of one of her town halls followed Hageman as she left and initiated a physical confrontation with her staff, eventually requiring police to intervene. Tillis has similarly taken certain steps to protect his staff, telling them to telework on days when there could be trouble.  AMERICANS HAVE BECOME ‘DESENSITIZED’ TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE, SAYS BRIANNA LYMAN “What was formerly taboo culturally has become acceptable,” Joel Finkelstein, lead author of the NCRI report, told Fox News Digital. “We are seeing a clear shift – glorification, increased attempts and changing norms – all converging into what we define as ‘assassination culture.’” These new rhetorical norms have translated into significant real-life violence, including just a few days ago at the New Mexico GOP’s headquarters in Albuquerque.  Suspects set the building on fire using incendiary devices, and they spray-painted the words “ICE = KKK” across the side of the building. An investigation into the incident, which did not result in any injuries, was initiated after the incident. So far, no arrests have been publicly reported. DEMOCRATS ARE OUT OF STEP WITH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE, FORMER CLINTON ADVISOR SAYS Meanwhile, Tesla owners, show rooms and charging stations have been targets of political violence as agitators find ways to challenge CEO Elon Musk and the Trump administration’s attempts to reform the government. Outside Portland, Oregon, a man was arrested for setting a Tesla dealership on fire using Molotov cocktails and then returning the next day to fire more than a dozen bullets into the same showroom. The shooting was the second time in a week that someone opened fire on the Tesla dealership, damaging windows and vehicles but not hurting anyone. In Boston, seven Tesla charging stations were engulfed in an intentionally set blaze, while in Las Vegas a fire caused numerous Teslas to explode. According to witness reports, the suspect in the Las Vegas arson also fired shots at the dealership and spray-painted the word “Resist” across the dealership’s front entrance. THE LOUDEST SILENCE: TOP DEMOCRATS REMAIN MUM AMID VIOLENT ATTACKS ON TESLA Meanwhile, in addition to attacks on Tesla businesses and charging stations, individuals who simply own a Tesla have also been victims of attacks spurred by anti-Musk and anti-Trump sentiment.  In New York City, vandals targeted multiple Tesla vehicles parked around the city, etching swastikas and the word “Nazi” on their passenger-side doors. The attacks on Tesla vehicles haven’t only been when they are vacant either.  DEMS HAVE BEEN COMPLETELY CAPTIVATED BY ‘FAR-LEFT LUNATICS,’ SAYS KAROLINE LEAVITT Multiple videos of Tesla drivers getting forcibly stopped in the middle of the road and accosted have surfaced on social media. In Seattle, a woman driving a Tesla was cut off by a masked driver on her way to a doctor’s appointment before he got out of his car and accosted the woman for owning a Tesla. The driver indicated to local news that the incident made her scared to drive her Tesla. NCRI’s survey found that in addition to a majority of left-leaning respondents justifying violent political attacks against Trump, about 40% also agreed it was justifiable to destroy Tesla dealerships.  “Property destruction wasn’t just an outlier opinion, it clustered tightly with support for political assassinations and other forms of violence,” Finkelstein said. “This points to a coherent belief system, not just isolated grievances.” DEM SENATOR WHO DITCHED TESLA TO PROTEST MUSK REFUSES TO CALL VIOLENCE AGAINST CARS ‘DOMESTIC TERRORISM’ Last week, GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., introduced a resolution in the House of Representatives that attempts to get every Democrat on the record over whether they condemn the violent acts or not.  While some Democrats have condemned acts of vandalism against Tesla, they have refrained from labeling it “domestic terrorism.” Additionally, a forceful condemnation from Democrat leadership has yet to surface.    “My House Resolution will make clear where all members of Congress stand,” Boebert said after she introduced the resolution. “Do they condemn domestic terrorism against Tesla or do they endorse it completely? The American people deserve to know where their representatives stand when it comes to condemning domestic terrorism.”

Biden admin held private talks with Beijing on Chinese spy balloon ahead of notifying public, officials say

Biden admin held private talks with Beijing on Chinese spy balloon ahead of notifying public, officials say

Biden administration State Department officials held private talks with Beijing counterparts about the Chinese spy balloon that intercepted U.S. airspace in 2023, and discussed the implications the balloon’s publicity would have on the relationship between the U.S. and China, according to Trump administration officials.  U.S. officials identified the spy balloon infiltrating U.S. airspace on Jan. 28, 2023, and an Air Force fighter jet shot down the Chinese spy balloon off the coast of South Carolina Feb. 4, 2023, two days after the Pentagon issued a statement on the matter.   Biden officials held discussions with Beijing Feb. 1, 2023, about the balloon, and discussed the impact disclosing the balloon to the public could have on the relationship with China, internal State Department documents show, two Trump administration officials told Fox News Digital.   CHINESE SPY BALLOON EQUIPPED WITH TECH FROM AT LEAST 5 US FIRMS: REPORT  An internal State Department readout of the talks between Blinken and a top Chinese diplomat said Blinken stated that if the presence of the balloon were revealed publicly, it could have “profound implications for our relationship” with China, particularly amid efforts to stabilize the bilateral relationship with Beijing, two Trump administration officials familiar with the documents told Fox News Digital.  The readout said that the incident could also have complicated Blinken’s travel plans to China in early February 2023, if not quickly resolved. Blinken ultimately postponed the trip until June 2023.  A former Biden administration official told Fox News Digital that the State Department summoned senior Chinese diplomat Zhu Haiquan Feb. 1, 2023, so that the U.S. could notify China to remove the balloon, and issue a warning that the U.S. could take action to eliminate the balloon.  “Former Secretary Blinken advocated strongly to tell the American people about China’s rogue balloon, which is exactly what happened,” a spokesperson for the former secretary of state said in a Tuesday statement to Fox News Digital. “He has a long history of being tough on China while actually delivering results.” Likewise, another senior State Department official also held private talks on Feb. 1, 2023, with Chinese counterparts. A readout from that discussion says that the official claimed the longer it took to mitigate the issue would only increase the likelihood that news of the balloon would become public, posing greater challenges managing the situation, the Trump administration officials said.  WHATEVER HAPPENED TO … THE INVESTIGATIONS INTO THE CHINESE SPY BALLOON Ultimately, the Pentagon issued a statement Feb. 2, 2023, claiming that the U.S. government had detected a “high-altitude surveillance balloon.”  While then-White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters that Biden received a briefing on the balloon on Jan. 31, 2023, she did not provide details regarding why his administration didn’t issue a statement on the matter until Feb. 2, 2023.  Secretary of State Marco Rubio, then a U.S. senator from Florida, repeatedly criticized the Biden administration for how it handled disclosing information to the public about the balloon — and how long it took the administration to shoot it down.  Biden’s failure to address the situation sooner was the “beginning of dereliction of duty,” Rubio said during an appearance on CNN with Jake Tapper.  “Why didn’t the president go on television?” Rubio told Tapper. “He has the ability to convene the country in cameras and basically explain what we’re dealing with here.”  On Feb. 4, 2023, an Air Force F-22 Raptor fighter jet from Virginia’s Langley Air Force Base shot down the balloon off the coast of South Carolina with an AIM-9X Sidewinder missile.  At the time, the Pentagon said that while the balloon was not a military or physical threat, its presence in U.S. airspace did violate U.S. sovereignty. The Pentagon also shut down China’s initial claims that the balloon was a weather balloon blown off course and labeled such statements false.  “This was a PRC surveillance balloon,” a senior defense official told reporters at the time. “This surveillance balloon purposely traversed the United States and Canada, and we are confident it was seeking to monitor sensitive military sites.” The Pentagon also said after shooting down the balloon that similar balloons from China transited continental U.S. airspace in at least three instances during Trump’s first administration.  Additionally, Biden “gave his authorization to take down the Chinese surveillance balloon as soon as the mission could be accomplished without undue risk to us civilians under the balloon’s path,” the senior defense official said, noting that there was concern debris could harm civilians.  The Pentagon later said in June 2023 that it did not believe that the balloon gathered information as it traveled across the U.S. Blinken is now a speaker with CAA Speakers, which represents high-profile celebrities. A spokesperson for Biden did not immediately provide comment to Fox News Digital. 

VP Vance blasts McConnell’s vote against Trump Pentagon nominee: ‘Political pettiness’

VP Vance blasts McConnell’s vote against Trump Pentagon nominee: ‘Political pettiness’

Vice President JD Vance spoke out against Sen. Mitch McConnell’s, R-Ky., vote against confirming Elbridge Colby to serve as undersecretary of defense for policy. “Mitch’s vote today—like so much of the last few years of his career—is one of the great acts of political pettiness I’ve ever seen,” Vance declared in a post on X. Colby was confirmed in a 54-45 vote on Tuesday. McConnell was the only Senate Republican to vote against confirmation, while three Democrats voted in Colby’s favor. ELBRIDGE COLBY CONFIRMED TO TOP PENTAGON POLICY POST AFTER HESITATION FROM GOP HAWKS President Donald Trump announced Colby as his pick for the Pentagon post when he was the president-elect. “Elbridge Colby’s long public record suggests a willingness to discount the complexity of the challenges facing America, the critical value of our allies and partners, and the urgent need to invest in hard power to preserve American primacy,” McConnell said in a statement. “The prioritization that Mr. Colby argues is fresh, new, and urgently needed is, in fact, a return to an Obama-era conception of a la carte geostrategy. Abandoning Ukraine and Europe and downplaying the Middle East to prioritize the Indo-Pacific is not a clever geopolitical chess move. It is geostrategic self-harm that emboldens our adversaries and drives wedges between America and our allies for them to exploit,” the senator asserted. VANCE VISITS CAPITOL HILL TO URGE SENATORS TO CONFIRM ELBRIDGE COLBY FOR PENTAGON NO. 3 POST McConnell has voted against multiple Trump nominees this year. “Mr. Colby’s confirmation leaves open the door for the less-polished standard-bearers of restraint and retrenchment at the Pentagon to do irreparable damage to the system of alliances and partnerships which serve as force multipliers to U.S. leadership. It encourages isolationist perversions of peace through strength to continue apace at the highest levels of Administration policymaking,” McConnell said. DISPUTED DOD NOMINEE IS ‘BEST PERSON’ TO IMPLEMENT TRUMP AND HEGSETH AGENDA, KEY CONSERVATIVE GROUP SAYS Vance spoke out in support of Colby last month at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Colby’s nomination.