Alleged Firebomber Behind Attack on Local Tesla Shop Hit with Federal Charges

Police have tracked down at least one person linked to the recent spate of attacks against Tesla — and they’re bringing the hammer down on him.

According to multiple reports, police have arrested 36-year-old Paul Kim for what is being described as a “targeted attack” against a Tesla dealership on March 18, per KLAS-TV.

Kim is alleged to have “arrived in a car, which he parked near the collision center … armed with a rifle, shot at surveillance cameras outside of the business. He then spray-painted the word ‘resist’ on the front doors,” according to police.

The outlet added that Kim wasn’t quite done there.

BREAKING: Suspected Las Vegas Tesla fire bomber Paul Kim has been charged by the Feds and is now in federal custody following his arrest by @LVMPD. He is now charged federally w/ arson & unregistered firearm. He faces 5-20 years in prison on the arson charge & up to 10 years on… pic.twitter.com/qE4Ofb8BRZ

— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) March 27, 2025

“Kim then shot at least five vehicles and set fires with Molotov cocktails, [LVMPD Asst. Sheriff Dori] Koren said,” KLAS noted. “Kim then drove off in his car, which police found while canvassing video from more than 700 locations across the Las Vegas valley.”

Fox News reported that Kim is facing multiple serious charges, including “destruction of property, arson and possessing a fire device.”

Additionally, the FBI confirmed to reporters that Kim would also be facing federal charges for his alleged activity.

“There’s nothing courageous or noble about firebombing private property and terrorizing your local community,” FBI agent-in-charge Spencer Evans said. “The self-righteous mob that’s cheering you on today to commit acts of violence on their behalf will leave you high and dry and forget about you tomorrow.

“And at the end of the day, you and you alone will be held responsible and face the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence.”

You can view some of the carnage left by Kim, courtesy of the Las Vegas Journal Review, below:

DEVELOPING: Video provided to the Review-Journal shows several @Tesla vehicles engulfed in flames after Las Vegas police say they were set on fire by an individual early Tuesday morning.
UPDATES→ https://t.co/sZQr9j1E5A pic.twitter.com/uXeLsdpTVl

— Las Vegas Review-Journal (@reviewjournal) March 18, 2025

Additionally — and perhaps even more disconcertingly —  authorities dug into Kim’s past and found his social media “showed potential links to communist groups and Palestinian causes,” per Fox.

Tesla — and the random attacks against it — has captured national attention due in no small part to the political bent of it.

Tesla boss and Department of Government Efficiency head Elon Musk has come under intense scrutiny from Democrats and the left for the manner in which he’s been taking a hatchet to government waste, and that scrutiny has translated to physical attacks against the electric vehicles.

In fact, Kim’s preference for incendiary devices is hardly original.

“Was this terrorism? Was it something else? It certainly has some of the hallmarks that we might think — the writing on the wall, potential political agenda, an act of violence,” Evans told reporters, per the Associated Press. “None of those factors are lost on us.”

The FBI has launched a task force, in conjunction with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, to help investigate this growing phenomena, Fox reported.

Kim is still being held by the U.S. Marshals Service as of Thursday, per KLAS.

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