DENVER (KDVR) — U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on Monday that federal charges had been unsealed against a Colorado man accused of throwing an incendiary device at the Tesla dealership in Loveland on March 7. Bondi posted a video on X, emphasizing the seriousness of the incident and warning those involved in similar attacks against Tesla properties.
“I’ve made it clear: If you take part in the wave of domestic terrorism against Tesla properties, we will find you, arrest you and put you behind bars,” Bondi stated in the video.
The man, identified as Cooper Jo Frederick, 24, was arrested on March 14 and initially faced state charges, including two counts of possessing an incendiary device and one count each of manufacturing an incendiary device, criminal mischief, and the use of an incendiary device in a felony.
Bondi referred to the March 7 attack as a “firebombing,” calling it a “serious threat to public safety.” The U.S. Justice Department plans to seek a 20-year prison sentence for Frederick. He was arrested in Plano, Texas, after the FBI’s investigation, and court records indicate that Frederick will be transported back to Colorado for prosecution.
The incident in Loveland was one of several crimes targeting the Tesla dealership in a span of five weeks. In addition to the incendiary device, there were attempts to break windows, reports of rocks being thrown at the building and vehicles, and graffiti. Earlier this month, another defendant, Lucy Grace Nelson, was also charged federally for her role in using Molotov cocktails to set fire to the dealership.
FOX31 is working to obtain federal court records outlining the charges against Frederick. This incident is part of a larger wave of protests and specific acts of vandalism against Tesla dealerships, which have been linked to opposition over government policies and Elon Musk’s role in the Department of Government Efficiency.
