Tesla employee arrested for making online threats against Joe Biden, Elon Musk
Justin McCauley (Travis County Sheriff's Office)
AUSTIN, Texas - A Tesla employee has been arrested for allegedly threatening to kill President Joe Biden and Elon Musk, as well as making threats against Musk's companies.
31-year-old Justin Mathew McCauley of Minnesota was arrested in Travis County and charged with third-degree felony terroristic threat.
Court documents say that on Saturday, Jan. 27, the Travis County Sheriff's Office was made aware of online threats made on McCauley's X account threatening Biden, Musk and Musk's companies X and Tesla.
Two posts quoted in the arrest affidavit say "I will arrive in Texas, where the war has began on many fronts @X, @Tesla" and "@JoeBiden @X @Tesla @Elonmusk, I am planning to Kill all of you".
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McCauley's wife also contacted police in Minnesota after her husband said he was going to Texas and never coming back, says the affidavit. McCauley had also left his cell phone behind and his wife said he did this so he could not be tracked.
McCauley drove through Oklahoma, where he was stopped by law enforcement and said he wanted to talk to the president, says the affidavit. When asked why, he allegedly responded with "wouldn't you want to talk to the president if you knew you were going to die tomorrow."
On Jan. 28, McCauley was stopped by deputies in Austin on I-35 and told them he was planning to go to the Tesla Gigafactory in Del Valle to try and contact Musk, says the affidavit. He was then arrested for terroristic threat.