Colorado woman charged with Tesla vandalism accuses Trump administration of political prosecution

DENVER — The Colorado woman accused of throwing Molotov cocktails at a Tesla dealership in Loveland alleged in a court filing this month that federal prosecutors unfairly targeted her as part of a politically motivated effort to punish enemies of President Donald Trump.

Lucy Nelson, 43, asked U.S. District Court Judge Nina Wang to dismiss the federal charges against her because of selective prosecution — claiming she is facing up to 20 years in federal prison not because of the scope of her alleged crimes, but because federal prosecutors are abusing their power to punish her for her political beliefs.

Nelson is accused of vandalizing a Loveland Tesla dealership on three occasions in early 2025 by spray-painting graffiti on the building, including the phrase “Nazi cars,” and by throwing Molotov cocktails at empty vehicles parked at the dealership.

She was arrested Feb. 24, 2025, when she visited the dealership with a container of gasoline and wicks that were similar to the material used in the prior incidents, authorities said at the time. Loveland police used Flock surveillance cameras to tie Nelson to the crimes, according to court records.

Nelson was charged with 10 felonies in state court, and then was also indicted on federal charges— two counts of possessing illegal destructive devices and a single count of attempted arson. The attempted arson charge carries a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum 20-year term.

Both the state and federal cases are pending.

Nelson’s attorneys early on sought a plea agreement in the federal case, but were informed that Colorado prosecutors had been ordered by higher-ups in the Department of Justice to reject “offers on these Tesla cases,” according to the motion.

Prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado said they could not dismiss any count that carried a mandatory minimum sentence — but the same office dismissed such counts for other defendants in contemporaneous arson cases that did not have political ties, Nelson noted in her motion.

Colorado woman charged with Tesla vandalism accuses Trump administration of political prosecution Colorado woman charged with Tesla vandalism accuses Trump administration of political prosecution

Tesla is owned by Elon Musk, who was a strong Trump ally and drew controversy around the time of the vandalism for making a motion that appeared like a Nazi salute after the president’s January 2025 inauguration.

Amid a wave of vandalism and protests against Tesla and Musk, Trump labeled vandalism at Tesla dealerships “domestic political terrorism,” and White House staff blamed “radical Leftist activists” for the crimes, according to Nelson’s motion. Then-Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to come after anyone who vandalized Tesla property with severe consequences, saying federal prosecutors would seek 20-year prison sentences and would not negotiate on the cases.

“Through these direct admissions, Executive Branch officials expressly revealed the administration’s intent to federally prosecute Tesla vandalism for a constitutionally impermissible reason — i.e., to punish these specific defendants for targeting a political ally and supporting a disfavored political cause,” Nelson’s federal public defenders wrote in the motion filed Friday.

The U.S. Constitution protects people from being prosecuted because of their political affiliations, viewpoints and beliefs, the attorneys wrote. They noted Colorado federal prosecutors in December dismissed arson charges against a man who used explosives to break into two ATMs in metro Denver — causing at least $100,000 in damages — as part of a deal in which the man pleaded guilty to bank robbery. He was sentenced to three years in prison.

In March, federal prosecutors dismissed arson charges against a man who filled a cooler with gasoline, strapped explosives to the cooler and lit it on fire at Fort Lewis College in Durango, starting a blaze that caused more than $200,000 in damages. The man pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered destructive device, court records show.

Nelson’s attorneys noted that Nelson has no prior criminal history, that the Molotov cocktails did not cause “any actual damage” at the Tesla dealership and that no one was hurt or physically threatened by the vandalism. The dealership estimated that the vandalism collectively caused between $5,000 and $20,000 in damages. Nelson’s defense attorneys also noted that she continues to face felony charges in state court.

“Only in these Tesla-related cases has the administration publicly claimed that the attempted property damage of a private business constitutes ‘domestic terrorism,'” Nelson’s attorneys wrote. “And only in these cases has the administration expressed an intent to seek the 20-year statutory maximum sentence upon conviction. Other than political animus, there is no other plausible explanation for why the administration would treat Ms. Nelson so differently, and so much more harshly, than other individuals who engaged in far more serious crimes.”

Melissa Brandon, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado, declined to comment Thursday.

Nelson had been scheduled to go to trial on the federal charges in October, but Wang canceled that setting in order to have time to address Nelson’s motion.

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