Las Vegas Review-Journal
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A man accused of setting multiple Tesla vehicles on fire in Las Vegas has been arrested and faces federal charges, authorities said Thursday, striking a blow against escalating nationwide attacks on Elon Musk’s signature company.
Paul Hyon Kim, 36, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center a day earlier on a total of 15 counts, including felony charges of arson, destroying property of another, possessing or disposing of a fire device, and a misdemeanor charge of discharging a firearm into a vehicle.
He was transferred to federal custody on Thursday and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Elayna Youchah, who said he would remain in federal custody until a detention hearing on Friday.
“ The Department of Justice has been clear: Anyone who participates in the wave of domestic terrorism targeting Tesla properties will suffer severe legal consequences,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement. “We will continue to find, arrest, and prosecute these attackers until the lesson is learned.”
Kim was assigned a public defender but said he may be able to hire a private attorney. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Operskalski and attorney Patrick Cashman, of the National Security Division’s counterterrorism section, are prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Kim faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for the unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm charge and up to 20 years in prison for the arson charge.
Video footage provided by the Metropolitan Police Department showed that around 2:45 a.m. on March 18, a person dressed in black damaged at least five Teslas in the parking lot of a Tesla service center at 6260 Badura Ave., near South Jones Boulevard and the 215 Beltway. He then fled the scene in what authorities said was a black Hyundai Elantra, police said.
Teslas have been targeted because Musk, the company’s CEO, serves as a special adviser to President Donald Trump and heads up the White House’s cost-slashing Department of Government Efficiency.
Authorities said the footage shows Kim shooting a gun at security cameras and inside multiple Teslas, and setting three vehicles on fire using the Molotov cocktails. Someone also spray-painted “Resist” across the facility, according to the footage.
The Molotov cocktail used in the fire had been wrapped in a flyer for a Marketon grocery store.
“Kim lives 1.8 miles from the Marketon located at 3736 E. Desert Inn Road,” the complaint said. “The flyers were only distributed in a (3-mile) radius of the Marketon location.”
Social media
Kim had “very loose” ties to social media groups such as the Communist Party USA, Revolutionary Communist International, Hidden Palestine and Palestine Action, Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said. That information, he said, would be part of law enforcement’s investigation into the motive.
He also follows the Socialist Rifle Association’s page on Instagram, according to the federal complaint. There is a post of Kim training with firearms in October 2018 on the Reno Socialist Rifle Association’s Instagram page, the complaint said.
In a website with his full name and a phone number that matches one Kim is said to have confirmed in the federal complaint, Kim is described as a “traveling cinematographer.” It said he has years of experience in television production. “Give him a call or shoot him an email, he’s super friendly and will get you what you need,” the site said.
A phone call to the listed number on Thursday failed.
In a March 9 Instagram post on a page with his name and a profile photo police showed in a news briefing, Kim posted a skull in newspaper and sticks. The caption reads: “This one is a little more personal to me being a former Christian and was inspired by my generally negative attitude towards that religion. In other words, inspired by negative vibes.”
‘Hallmarks of terrorism’
Spencer Evans, the special agent in charge at the FBI office in Las Vegas, said he finds nothing courageous about the violence.
“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,” Evans said, regarding Kim.“You and you alone will be held responsible and face the prospect of a lengthy prison sentence.”
During a news conference last week, Koren said the incident “was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility. We do believe that it is isolated at this time.”
Still, he said, Metro was increasing its presence at Tesla-related locations in the valley as a precaution.
The Clark County Fire Department and the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force joined the investigation.
At the time, Evans stopped short of calling the attack an act of terrorism, though he said it had “some of the hallmarks” and a “potential political agenda.”
“We will prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law and remain steadfastly committed to working with our law enforcement partners to combat domestic violent extremism,” Sue Fahami, acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Nevada, said in a statement.
Solving the case
Sheriff Kevin McMahill said that at the start of the investigation, he was worried about solving it, given the “very little information” law enforcement had.
Kim was arrested at what law enforcement believed to be his workplace.
Koren said that the arrest was achieved through an “exhaustive review” of surveillance material and that law enforcement canvassed 700 places around the valley.
He also said hundreds of people were involved in solving the case, and he thanked community members who had offered cellphone surveillance video.
The federal complaint describes using cell tower data, DNA evidence and video surveillance to make the arrest.
Using vehicle navigation records, law enforcement tracked the Elantra before the fire, and license plate reader data connected the car to Kim, the complaint said.
On March 18, just hours after the fire, Kim filed an insurance claim, alleging his vehicle’s tires had been slashed and that his car had been stolen, the complaint said. Metro and Henderson police showed no reports that the vehicle had been stolen.
In a March 19 report, Metro identified gun rounds as .300 Blackout or .30 caliber, but said it could not determine a specific firearm make or model.
Tracking suspect
Just 12 days before the fire, Kim bought a component for a semi-automatic rifle that was compatible with the same-caliber firearm used in the fire, the complaint said.
Prosecutors said Kim also gave his phone number when he purchased the part from Accuracy Gun Shop on Boulder Highway, according to the complaint, which includes a screenshot of what authorities said was his vehicle outside the store.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives also found records of Kim registering a suppressor with the National Firearms and Transfer Record.
“ATF Investigators reviewed video footage from the Tesla Facility depicting the suspect spray painting the storefront,” the complaint said. “ATF Investigators believe the suspect in the video footage appears to be carrying a firearm with a suppressor or similar muzzle device. Additionally, there was no visible muzzle flash seen during multiple rounds the suspect fired on scene.”
On Wednesday, Metro conducted 24-hour surveillance on Kim at his apartment, where they saw him carry three black bags into a Turo rental car at 8:07 a.m., according to the complaint.
“His registered Hyundai Elantra had not been observed since the time of the incident,” the complaint said.
That morning, Kim left his apartment, and Metro officers observed him at The Venetian, where there was a cybersecurity and AI convention, according to the complaint. Detectives interviewed him on his way out.
They questioned him about his whereabouts on the morning of the fire and the night before and “challenged him on his inconsistencies,” the complaint said. “Kim then replied with his request for counsel and the interview was concluded.”
The complaint said that Kim had booked a flight to Milwaukee, with a layover in Phoenix, that had been scheduled to depart Las Vegas at 6:45 a.m. Thursday.
Investigators searched his home on Wednesday night and found a black gun belt with pink paint residue, a black backpack with pink paint and a black hoodie. They also found face masks, ammunition, guns and paper with a handwritten route to Tesla, among other items.
An earlier version of this story misstated the date of the fire.
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