A wheelchair-bound woman who went out for dinner returned to her Tesla to find it had been deliberately damaged while she was inside the restaurant.
The vehicle’s security cameras showed someone using a key to scrape off paint around the entire car, and owner Abigail Gill told KAKE News that she now had “possibly over $10,000” worth of damage to repair.
Gill, from Wichita, Kansas, believed the vandalism was a political act, part of the recent wave of Tesla protests and attacks over CEO Elon Musk‘s foray into politics as an adviser to President Donald Trump.
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Tesla and the Wichita Police Department for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Attacks against Tesla cars, dealerships and infrastructure have occurred in recent weeks. Vehicles have been destroyed by arson, shot at in drive-bys and covered in graffiti, including swastikas.
Musk’s company has become a focal point for protesters opposed to his work as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has laid off federal workers and frozen foreign aid. A boycott of Tesla has seen sales slump worldwide as the backlash against Musk grows.
What To Know
Speaking with KAKE News about the March 20 incident, Gill said the attack against her car would have no effect on Musk but had been devastating for her.
“Damaging a personal vehicle does not affect Elon,” she said. “If anything, it’s giving him more money to fix the vehicle that you damaged.”
“It’s not damaging who you think it is,” Gill added.
In a message to the vandal, she said, “You have put a very big crisis on me because physically I am in a wheelchair.”
She continued: “I just hope that he definitely gets the correct punishment. I hope he pays all of the damages. It is well over $1,000, possibly over $10,000, of damage. I hope that the Wichita police continue to [try to] find him.”
Gill had left her car in the parking lot of an Olive Garden just before 6 p.m. on Thursday, when she and her family stopped for a quick dinner. She said she returned around 7 p.m. to find “quite a lot of damage.” She circled around the car in her electric wheelchair as she showed a KAKE News reporter that both sides of the car had been keyed to scrape off the red paint and dent the panels.
A clip of the KAKE News segment later circulated on X, another Musk-owned company formerly known as Twitter. The Libs of TikTok account, which criticizes liberals, posted the video under the caption, “Democrats did this to a disabled woman.”
The account also shared the car’s security footage of the person who keyed the vehicle in a follow-up post. The suspect appeared to be wearing pajama-style pants and a purple shirt. At one point, the vandal also wore a black hoodie.
Gill said she and her family were now deliberating whether it was safe to continue to driving a Tesla, which could be targeted again.
The owner of the Tesla that was vandalized in Wichita, Kansas is a wheelchair-bound disabled woman who is now stuck with thousands of dollars worth of damage to repair.Democrats did this to a disabled woman.Democrat leadership incited this. https://t.co/3XWUzLlNgP pic.twitter.com/RCKO5dBZ8c
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) March 24, 2025
What People Are Saying
Speaking with KAKE News, Tesla owner Abigail Gill said of the attack against her car: “It felt really disappointing that this is happening in such a great country, a great state … For this to happening in Kansas, of all places, is super shocking.”
Tesla CEO Elon Musk told Fox News on March 18: “Tesla is a peaceful company. We’ve never done anything harmful. I’ve never done anything harmful. I’ve always done productive things.”
Speaking to reporters, President Donald Trump said on March 11 that violence against Tesla would be classified as domestic terrorism: “I will do that. I’m going to stop them because they are harming a great American company.”
What Happens Next
Gill has reported the vandalism to the Wichita Police Department, and the investigation is ongoing.
The post Disabled Woman Who Had Tesla Vandalized Speaks Out appeared first on Newsweek.
