Who Is Justin McCauley Tesla Employee Arrested For Threatening Joe Biden And Elon Musk To Kill?

Tesla Police have confirmed the arrest of a Minnesota-based Tesla employee, Justin McCauley, aged 31, for allegedly threatening to kill US President Joe Biden and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.

On Tuesday, charges of felony terroristic threats were filed against McCauley, who had posted tweets indicating his intent to harm Biden, Musk, X, and Tesla.

Photo Credit: PTI

Death Threats to Biden and Musk

"I will arrive in Texas, where the war has begun on many fronts @X, @Tesla and '@JoeBiden @X @Tesla @Elonmusk, I am planning to Kill all of you," he wrote on X, formally known as Twitter.

According to a Kxan report, it was stated in court documents that Rogers Police were contacted by McCauley's wife when he announced his departure for Texas, asserting that he would never return. Authorities were informed that his cell phone had been left unattended, rendering it untrackable, reported HindustanTimes.

When approached by Oklahoman police last Friday, it was stated that McCauley told them he only wished to speak with the president, responding to a police question by allegedly remarking, "Wouldn't you want to talk to the president if you knew you were going to die tomorrow?"

As per the documents, law enforcement did not arrest McCauley at that time, citing that he did not meet the requirements for emergency detention, reported HindustanTimes.

Further into the investigation, a collaboration between law enforcement and a Secret Service field agent in Dallas was initiated to reach the hotel in Oklahoma. However, it was mentioned in the search warrant that McCauley had already left the hotel by the time the field agent arrived.

It was later discovered by police that McCauley, who worked at Tesla in Minnesota, was on workers' compensation after suffering an injury.

Upon being pulled over by police on Sunday afternoon in Austin, it was reported that McCauley informed them he was driving to the Tesla Gigafactory to attempt to get in touch with CEO Musk, intending to "provide him with a password only he would know about." Subsequently, he was taken into custody, as per the report.

A day before his arrest, a terroristic threat at the Tesla Gigafactory in Austin prompted deputies' response. It remains unclear if the call was made by McCauley.Following his arrest, charges of terroristic threat, a third-degree felony, were brought against McCauley. According to court documents, he was taken to Travis County Jail on a $20,000 bond.

Notably, in December 2022, Musk suggested, in an interview on Twitter Spaces, that he harboured concerns about his safety, hinting at fear for his life.

"Frankly, the likelihood of something unfavourable occurring to me, or even the possibility of being shot, is quite substantial," he mentioned during that two-hour Q&A session on Twitter Spaces.

"It's not a formidable task to harm someone if one wishes, so I hope that doesn't happen, and fate favours the situation, preventing any unfortunate events... There's certainly a degree of risk involved," he further stated.