The 19-year-old accused of firebombing a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, Missouri, could reportedly spend the next 30 years in prison.
The suspect, who is identified as Owen McIntire, is accused of targeting two electric vehicles at the location in March, the Daily Mail reported Friday and referred to McIntire as being “transgender.”
The Mail article continued:
The teen, who was receiving so-called gender-affirming care at the time of the attacks, has denied federal charges of malicious destruction of property and unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device.
One charge carries with it a mandatory five years in prison, and he could spend 30 years behind bars if found guilty on all counts. He’d be 49 on release if the maximum sentence was imposed.
McIntire’s case was elevated to the Department of Justice’s national security division after what Attorney General Pam Bondi described as a wave of domestic terrorism.
McIntire is not the only person accused of targeting Tesla dealerships and its vehicles, and such attacks ensued due to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s working relationship with President Donald Trump.
A Trump hater with “She/They” pronouns was charged in March for allegedly vandalizing a new Tesla sales, service, and delivery center with graffiti targeting the president, Musk, and supporting “trans rights,” Breitbart News reported.
Following McIntire’s arrest, journalist Andy Ngô said the suspect allegedly wore women’s clothing during the attack at the dealership.
In her statement on the case, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said at the time, “Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us. You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”
In late April, a federal judge ordered McIntire be released from federal custody before his trial date once his lawyers argued he had no criminal history and had strong ties to his community in Missouri, per Breitbart News.
“McIntire has reportedly ‘been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder,’ Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), depression, and gender dysphoria, according to court records,” the outlet said.
