Suspect in Albuquerque Tesla attack arrested, charged

Jamison Wagner has been charged with committing arson attacks at an Albuquerque Tesla facility and at a Republican Party headquarters, the Justice Department said Monday. Wagner is the fifth alleged Tesla attacker to be arrested, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said on Tuesday. He faces up to 40 years in prison and she has directed prosecutors not to negotiate his sentence.

What occurred in the two arson attacks? On Feb. 9, Wagner allegedly firebombed two vehicles in the Albuquerque Tesla lot. He also vandalized the building and several other vehicles with graffiti of swastikas and phrases accusing Tesla founder Elon Musk of being a Nazi, court documents alleged.

On March 30, a fire likely caused by several Molotov cocktails significantly damaged the Republican Party New Mexico headquarters. The building was also vandalized with graffiti equating ICE with the Ku Klux Klan. Wagner is also the suspect in that attack.

Who is Wagner? Wagner is a 40-year-old Albuquerque resident. According to his biography on the 500 Queer Scientists website, Wagner was about to begin his master’s degree in electrical engineering at the time he submitted his information to the site. He said he interned at a national lab designing circuit boards for X-ray imaging.

How did law enforcement catch Wagner? Local law enforcement and agents from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives connected Wagner to the crimes using surveillance footage and crime scene evidence. They used footage of his vehicle to significantly narrow the search. Wagner allegedly used similar food jars at both sites that contained an incendiary substance. Police also found a stencil that matched graffiti on the Republican Party building in Wagner’s home, according to the criminal complaint.

Dig deeper: Read my report on charges against a California man who allegedly attacked a Tesla center in Las Vegas.