The Department of Justice has charged a self-identified “queer scientist” in the firebombings of a Tesla dealership and the Republican Party headquarters in Albuquerque.
Jamison Wagner, 40, is accused of setting fire to multiple cars at a Tesla dealership on February 9 and vandalizing the facility with graffiti, including the words “Die Elon,” according to a federal complaint. Wagner struck again the following month, prosecutors allege, setting fire to the Republican Party office in Albuquerque and painting the phrase “ICE=KKK” on the building.
It’s the latest arrest in the Trump administration’s crackdown on attacks on Tesla dealerships, which have spiked amid organized protests by the liberal group Indivisible at Tesla facilities in protest of Elon Musk’s involvement in the Department of Government Efficiency. The Department of Justice announced federal charges last month against three people who set fire to dealerships in Oregon, Colorado, and South Carolina.
“Let this be the final lesson to those taking part in this ongoing wave of political violence,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said after Wagner’s arrest. “We will arrest you, we will prosecute you, and we will not negotiate. Crimes have consequences.”
Wagner is a registered Democrat and supporter of a variety of left-wing causes, according to his social media postings. According to Wagner’s Facebook page, which is cited in the federal complaint against him, he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and has posted the slogan “All Cops Are Bastards.”
Wagner is also a member of “500 Queer Scientists,” which calls itself a “visibility campaign for LGBTQ+” scientists. According to a biography on the site, Wagner uses the pronouns “he/him” and worked as an intern at an unidentified national laboratory. Wagner coauthored a paper last year for the Los Alamos National Laboratory on the topic of detecting nuclear radiation.
Wagner is charged with two counts of malicious damage or destruction of property by fire or explosives, both of which carry up to 20 years in prison.
According to prosecutors, authorities searched Wagner’s residence on Saturday and discovered eight incendiary devices, spray paint, and a stencil of the “ICE=KKK” phrase painted at the Republican office.
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