Kevin O’Leary predicts people who torch Teslas will ‘rot in hell in prison’

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Kevin O’Leary has spoken out about the rising trend of people vandalizing Teslas, predicting nothing but bad would come to those responsible.

“When you set a car on fire, you should go to jail. You’re a criminal,” the Shark Tank star said during an episode of CNN NewsNight last week.

“And I don’t think we have to talk about it in any other context,” the Canadian business tycoon added.

Vandalism of Tesla vehicles and dealerships across North America has increased due to apparent backlash against the company’s CEO, Elon Musk, who U.S. President Donald Trump appointed to head the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

While no injuries have been reported, Tesla showrooms, vehicle lots, charging stations, and privately owned cars have been targeted.

In Las Vegas last week, several Tesla vehicles were set ablaze outside a Tesla service centre where the word “resist” was painted in red across the building’s front doors.

Closer to home in Hamilton, about 80 vehicles were targeted at a Tesla dealership, with the damage including, but was not limited to, deep scratches and punctured tires, the Toronto Sun reported.

“This level of violence is insane and deeply wrong,” Musk wrote in response on X, sharing a video of burning Teslas in Las Vegas.

“Tesla just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.”

O’Leary agreed, and showed no sympathy for Tesla vandals.

“All those cars have cameras in them, and those dealerships have cameras. You’re beyond being stupid when you do that,” he said.

“You’re going to spend five to 20 years in prison.”

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The 70-year-old entrepreneur suggested that perpetrators could face the most severe penalties — in line with Attorney General Pam Bondi, who has vowed to “continue investigations that impose severe consequences” for Tesla vandals, including for “those operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”

O’Leary noted: “If they get them on terrorism — which I think is a stretch — there will be no parole, no shortened sentence.”

He added: “They’ll rot in hell in prison for 20 years. And frankly, as far as I’m concerned, that’s OK.”

Earlier this month, a Tesla showroom in Salem, Oregon, was shot at, even as police investigate ongoing vandalism at the location including major damage caused with Molotov cocktails in January.

Last week, a man accidentally set himself on fire while trying to set ablaze Tesla chargers in South Carolina to protest Trump via Musk’s cars.

The suspect also spray-painted “long live the Ukraine” alongside a crude reference to the U.S. president on the pavement next to the charging stations near a North Charleston outlet mall.

When asked about the “protest” motivations behind the incidents, O’Leary shot back, “What protests? You’re a criminal. Nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with Tesla.”