A rumor that users shared online in March 2025 claimed a photo showed a mugshot of a man arrested for vandalizing a Tesla dealership. The mugshot displayed a label for the Sheboygan County Sheriff's Department in Wisconsin.
For example, beginning on or around March 19, several users shared the mugshot on Facebook, iFunny, Instagram, Threads and X. Some posts featured the image caption, "One of them arrested for vandalizing a Tesla dealership. Is anyone surprised?" Another X user also posted (archived) the photo with the caption, "Legit, this is one of the Tesla vandals arrested and having his mugshots taken. This is beautiful!"
However, the arrest of the man depicted in the mugshot had nothing to do with vandalizing a Tesla dealership, nor did his arrest occur in 2025. That man's arrest, occurring on May 28, 2016, in Sheboygan, included charges of first degree sexual assault and carrying a concealed weapon, according to the Sheboygan Press.
Sheboygan County Sheriff Matthew Spence said by email: "The photo is a Sheboygan County booking photo, but there is no connection to the allegations that the photo and arrest are connected to Tesla vandalism."
Tesla has not responded to a request for comment.
The name of a Facebook user who possibly originated the misleading rumor appeared in an X post screenshot (archived). A search of that Facebook user's profile located no such post, indicating they likely deleted it.
The photo users shared displayed a watermark for Facebook user @jonke_memes, who posted a different meme with the mugshot picture on March 19. That meme did not mention Tesla. Several aforementioned social media users, including @jonke_memes, have not respond to requests for comment.
Tesla protests, vandalism, violence and fluctuating stock prices
The misleadingly captioned mugshot photo circulated widely in the early months of 2025, a time featuring no shortage of news about the electric vehicle maker.
Following U.S. President Donald Trump's reelection victory, he announced the appointment of Tesla CEO Elon Musk to "lead" the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, tasked to find and "reduce waste, fraud and abuse." Months later, officials with Trump's White House claimed Musk served as Trump's adviser and not an administrator for DOGE.
After Inauguration Day, anti-Trump activists organized numerous repeated demonstrations near Tesla dealerships and other company-related properties to protest the actions of the administration and Musk.
At a March 22 protest near a Tesla dealership in Palm Beach County, Florida, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office arrested a man for allegedly driving a car at a slow rate of speed into the path of demonstrators. The driver did not strike anyone with his vehicle, and police charged him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without intent to kill, per ABC News, citing police.
Separate from the organized demonstrations, news media outlets also reported several alleged incidents of vandalism and violence against Tesla. On March 18, Attorney General Pam Bondi released a statement about the attacks, calling them "domestic terrorism."
Amid the protests, violence and actions announced by Trump's administration and DOGE, Tesla's stock experienced losses that wiped out strong post-election gains. The company's stock has since regained some ground.
For further reading, previous reporting examined a rumor that police and SWAT teams were guarding Tesla car dealerships in the U.S. amid the protests targeting Musk.