KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A man accused of shooting at vehicles at a Tesla location in Kansas City in February, the first of two such incidents in the metro, allegedly told investigators last week he had targeted the business because he was angry with Elon Musk over his work in President Donald Trump’s administration.

Kevin A. Harkins, 27, is accused of damaging three vehicles in the parking lot of the Tesla center on State Line Road on Feb. 13.

Investigators found a Cybertruck with bullet holes and fire damage, a Tesla Model Y car with bullet holes and found apparent bullet ricochet damage on another Cybertruck. They said incendiary devices had been thrown at one of the trucks and found a lighter and a hand torch at the scene, according to court documents.

Investigators tracked Harkins for months, eventually to a residence in the St. Louis suburb of Barnhart, where they spoke to him last week, according to court documents. He allegedly admitted to being involved in the vandalism and said it happened while Musk, Tesla’s chief executive officer, “had a big impact in the federal government, which affected the jobs of lots of people.”

He said he believed Musk should not have been involved in the government.

Federal prosecutors charged Harkins Sept. 12 with two felonies — malicious destruction of property and unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm, destructive device — in U.S. District Court in Kansas City.

The incident occurred as Musk helmed the Department of Government Efficiency, which made swaths of cuts to the federal government early in Trump’s second term.

“Harkins described Musk as a ‘South African autocrat’ who was trying to buy out and run the country,” an FBI agent wrote in an affidavit. “Harkins described there being issues on both sides of the political spectrum, which is causing the downfall to the country.”

“Harkins said, ‘The weeds need plucked and the garden looks like (expletive),’” the agent wrote. “Harkins was tired of being dragged through the dirt by a bunch of billionaires.”

Messages sent to an email address and phone number for Harkins were not immediately returned Tuesday afternoon. Federal court records don’t yet list an attorney for Harkins.

Harkins is the second person to face federal charges for allegedly setting a fire at the Tesla location on State Line Road. About a month after the incident Harkins is accused of, two Cybertrucks and a pair of charging stations were damaged by a fire that authorities also allege was set intentionally.

Federal prosecutors charged Owen McIntire, 19, for the March 17 incident. McIntire, who faces the same felony charges as Harkins, is scheduled for a trial in August 2026.

The Kansas City incidents came during a spate of vandalism against Tesla properties in other states that Attorney General Pam Bondi labeled “domestic terrorism” earlier this year.

“Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us,” she said in April, announcing charges against McIntire. “You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it.”

Several Missouri defense attorneys interviewed by The Star earlier this year agreed that similar acts of property destruction have typically been prosecuted in state court, where punishments tend to be less severe.

February incident at Tesla location

Police and firefighters were called to the Tesla location on State Line Road around 9:30 p.m. Feb. 13 after gunshots and a fire were reported in the area. Investigators found the damaged vehicles and an “ignitable liquid” that had been poured on the ground and allowed to burn, as well as broken glass, two beer bottles, charred cloth and the lighters, according to court documents.

One witness told police they had seen a man wearing “tactical gear” near their house that night and heard 12-15 gunshots. When they went to their deck, they saw the man fire 12-15 more rounds. The witness believed the person was shooting into the Tesla parking lot.

The witness confronted the person with their own firearm and told him to get on the ground, but the person said, “(Expletive) you” and ran off, the witness said, according to court documents.

Tesla surveillance footage showed a person walking to the parking lot shortly before a fire became visible near the vehicles and showed the suspect throwing incendiary devices at a Cybertruck, according to court documents. Investigators determined a bottle they recovered had been fashioned into a Molotov cocktail.

A license plate reader device at the intersection of 103rd Street and State Line Road captured an image of the vehicle Harkins allegedly fled in, which was registered to him, according to court documents.

Investigators tracked Harkins at business and home locations in the Kansas City area in May, June and July before his vehicle moved to the St. Louis area, according to court documents. FBI agents from Kansas City and St. Louis went to the house in Barnhart where he was staying and executed a search warrant there on Sept. 11.

In his room, they found a 9mm handgun, magazines and scraps of fabric that investigators said were similar to those with one of the bottles they found in the Tesla parking lot.

Initially, Harkins denied he had been involved and suggested his brother, who had recently died of an overdose, could have been connected to the vandalism, an FBI agent wrote. When asked about the fabric scraps, Harkins then said he had been responsible, according to court documents.

Harkins said he had been having issues with his wife and that they had separated last year, which caused him to be bitter and angry. He said he began to binge drink after their separation and was “blackout drunk” when he committed the acts, authorities said in court documents.

He estimated he shot 32 rounds from his handgun into the Tesla vehicles and said he threw Molotov cocktails at the Cybertruck, according to court documents. He said he then went to a store, stole some liquor and returned to the area to see if any of the vehicles were still on fire, the FBI agent wrote.

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(Previous reporting by The Star’s David Hudnall contributed to this story.)

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