Molotov cocktails being used to attack Tesla facilities due to political frustrations with the company’s founder isn’t the sort of headline one would expect in “normal times.”  

Of course, things haven’t been “normal” for quite a while now. 

Last week’s attack against a Tesla repair facility in Las Vegas felt like some new iteration of the “Florida man” headline meme. In truth, it was one of many such attacks across the country — part of rising violence punctuated by countless incidents of individuals harassing Tesla drivers, keying vehicles or vandalizing company property as a way to express their displeasure with the current political leanings of Elon Musk. 

To be sure, Musk’s transformation from a darling of the environmental left to a sort of consigliere for President Donald Trump has been bizarre in its own right. However, even if one finds his current political trajectory objectionable, committing arson and shooting at company facilities is a bit unhinged. 

Although “unhinged” isn’t a word that applies exclusively to the vandals in this story arc. Last week, Trump suggested that “terrorists” who lash out against Musk’s company should be sent to a notorious prison in El Salvador as punishment for their crimes — a proposal that isn’t likely to abate the human-rights concerns of those who find his presidency objectionable. 

Even merely referring to such attacks as “domestic terrorism” has wrinkled some feathers on the left — and considering the politicization of federal law enforcement, it’s easy to see why. Politically motivated vandalism likely falls somewhere in the legal vicinity of terrorism, however, the erosion of civil rights we so often see when the government declares war on acts of terror should merit some concern from civil libertarians.

Regardless of how one might feel about Musk, Trump or those who oppose them, the recent spate of attacks against the world’s most popular electric vehicles should be a reminder that our current era of division is on the brink of devolving further into chaos. 

According to Reuters, political violence during last year’s election was already at a level not seen since the 1970s. The two assassination attempts against Trump were the highest-profile examples, but countless lower-profile incidents were occurring on a regular basis — everything from basic assault to property damage. 

As bad as it seemed in 2024, however, things are probably only going to get worse.

Part of the problem is the sheer absurdity of what’s happening in modern politics. As Reason Magazine’s Nick Gillespie often points out, a perusal through each day’s headlines can easily leave one feeling as if we’re living in a Phillip K. Dick novel. Each political story du jour seems nearly as unmoored from reality as the extremists and lunatics who respond with Molotov cocktails. 

From administration officials flatly rejecting the basic tenets of due process to accidental leaks of detailed military plans over texting apps, there’s no shortage of buffoonery to rile emotions and incite legitimate outrage in our modern era. And, lamentably, there are plenty of pundits, politicians and grifters ready to weaponize such outrage for their own profit — feeding a nonstop stream of partisan hackery, political posturing and cultlike “hot takes” to a public that is increasingly addicted to doomscrolling. 

Or to put it another way, much of our political news nowadays is not merely disturbing examples of government incompetence or political tomfoolery, but also low-hanging fruit for anyone who wants to inflame partisan tensions. 

Is it any wonder that violence is on the rise in such an environment? 

The apocalyptic rhetoric of modern politics might generate plenty of clicks and profit in our doomscrolling culture, but it also inevitably leads to some portion of partisan purists actually believing what they’re being told. And if those true believers are told their political others are fascists, socialists or otherwise despotic evildoers out to destroy our world, there’s bound to be a few motivated devotees willing to take violent action to stop them.  

For some Trump loyalists, that apparently meant storming the Capitol in 2021. For a few deranged members of the “resistance,” it apparently means vandalizing Tesla dealerships.

Of course, none of our modern political violence is without precedent. Following the Civil War, for example, American politics were astoundingly volatile and dangerous. Roughly two dozen political officials were assassinated in the decade following the war and congressmen were attacked with disturbing regularity. Even ordinary voters were targeted, beaten and kidnapped by partisan gangs looking to bully people into submission. Organized violent groups such as the Ku Klux Klan systematically used violence to terrorize entire regions of America — often with explicit support from corrupt government officials. 

Put into such historical context, a few burnt Teslas aren’t nearly as horrendous as dozens of elected officials being murdered on a regular basis or ordinary voters facing mobs of hooded, bloodthirsty zealots. Nonetheless, it should still be a disturbing reminder that rogue individuals violently lashing out will forever be a regrettably predictable consequence of widespread political dysfunction and intense partisan division. 

And, unfortunately, there’s plenty of dysfunction and division to go around nowadays.

Michael Schaus is a communications and branding expert based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and founder of Schaus Creative LLC — an agency dedicated to helping organizations, businesses and activists tell their story and motivate change. He has more than a decade of experience in public affairs commentary, having worked as a news director, columnist, political humorist, and most recently as the director of communications for a public policy think tank. Follow him on Twitter @schausmichael or on Substack @creativediscourse.