Journalists Trespass, Assault Tesla employees at the Gigafactory

[electracity]

"A rock had been used to shatter the driver’s-side window and the driver’s-side seat belt had been cut in half."

well that's interesting too...I wonder if they [Tesla security] smashed the window and took the keys out and then physically cut the guy out and held him down to restrain him.

honestly sounds like Tesla security boxed them in and they did everything to try and escape. I'm sure they'll use a self defense argument (guards threatening them, they were scared, they were attacked, etc).

Wouldn't the guards be acting lawfully in detaining trespassers?

 

[Uncle Paul]

In America, private property is sacred. Nobody is allowed to intrude without permission from the owner.

Think how you would feel if a reporter and photographer broke into your house and started taking personal photographs and writing to others what they found in your home. When you told them to leave and they refused and attacked you. Then wrote an article about how terrible you acted.

Believe these reporters intentially broke the law for their own financial gain, and should be forced to stand in front of a Judge.

 

[rolosrevenge]

I hope they go to prison for a long time.

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

I wish those injured a swift recovery. And those who did the injuring swift justice.

I love Tesla more than any sane person should, but this is just nuts. No factory photo is worth running people over for.

 

[efusco]

Where there's demand, supply will attempt to comply. I believe all - certainly most - of us have some culpability.

Let's go with 0.001% culpability. We can demand, but journalists have a responsibility to be lawful. I certainly have no expectation or desire for people to commit a crime in order to satisfy my morbid curiosities.

 

[MsElectric]

What Tesla should do is hire a couple of off duty police officers. We do this for our business when needed and it is quite effective.

Even off duty, police officers can wear their uniform and they can detain people for trespassing. Most importantly they can call for backup

 

[Lloyd]

Wouldn't the guards be acting lawfully in detaining trespassers?

Correct, at least in CA, when someone is caught trespassing the owner is allowed to detain the trespasser until authorities arrive. However, the easier way would have been to identify the trespassers either by photo or ID, and allow the authorities to serve any citations or arrests.

 

[AudubonB]

Let's go with 0.001% culpability. We can demand, but journalists have a responsibility to be lawful. I certainly have no expectation or desire for people to commit a crime in order to satisfy my morbid curiosities.

I have zero desire to be inflammatory but I do wish to be thought-provoking. How many of us have said "Please stop those drone flyovers, we really aren't interested in the construction progress."? I know I haven't raised my hand.

 

[rolosrevenge]

I have zero desire to be inflammatory but I do wish to be thought-provoking. How many of us have said "Please stop those drone flyovers, we really aren't interested in the construction progress."? I know I haven't raised my hand.

If Tesla doesn't want drone flyovers, they can always hire someone with a shotgun. It is Nevada after all.

 

[doug]

That struck me too. I wonder if it's to counter anything that may come out in the RGJ? Either way, seemed a bit catty to post. Perhaps if the last paragraph were expanded on to make the point of the story to be about Tesla's property, safety, privacy and measures taken against trespassers in the future it would matter more.

This is a widespread blog post. If it's directed to trespassers at the GF, then isn't that a fairly small audience? Maybe signs around the property and an editorial in the local paper would work better.

Yeah, a blog post doesn't feel like the right venue to me either. But I figure Tesla felt they'd better get their side of the story out before it reaches the wider media.

 

[bonnie]

If Tesla doesn't want drone flyovers, they can always hire someone with a shotgun. It is Nevada after all.

Skeet shooting!

 

[yobigd20]

I hope they go to prison for a long time.

we don't know the entire story. what if the Tesla guards approached them with threats "we're going to kill you" etc and physically and violently attacked them? the journalists could have been completely defending themselves (and well within their rights to do so if their lives were in danger), regardless of whether or not they were trespassing. if someone threatened me like that and I felt my life was in imminent danger, i'd run them over too.

 

[AnOutsider]

Yeah, let's wait for the third side of the story. In both accounts, neither party seems to be taking responsibility for any actions. Saying that they ran into the 4-wheeler sounds crazy, until you put it into the possible perspective that they were boxed in and feeling threatened. I'm not saying that's what happened, just saying there's more here that we're not hearing.

 

[Yggdrasill]

I have zero desire to be inflammatory but I do wish to be thought-provoking. How many of us have said "Please stop those drone flyovers, we really aren't interested in the construction progress."? I know I haven't raised my hand.

Tesla doesn't object to drone flyovers in the blog post. I think the chance of a drone assaulting Tesla workers with a deadly weapon to be fairly slim. I'm also unsure about whether Tesla can object to the flyovers, or has any right to shoot them down. It's not like they can shoot down passenger jets that happen to fly over their property.

 

[hockeythug]

The rules on "drones" in the U.S are still unclear so I doubt Tesla would want to start shooting them down. All of the well done drone videos people have done have only brought more publicity to the project.

 

[omarsultan]

Saying that they ran into the 4-wheeler sounds crazy, until you put it into the possible perspective that they were boxed in and feeling threatened

Easy solution: don't trespass. Once they broke the law, TBH, I have little concern about how they "feel".

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah, a blog post doesn't feel like the right venue to me either. But I figure Tesla felt they'd better get their side of the story out before it reaches the wider media.

Agree, but its sounds like perhaps the trespassing is on-going and escalating, so they are drawing the line in a way where they control their version of the narrative.

 

[Cosmacelf]

The rules on "drones" in the U.S are still unclear so I doubt Tesla would want to start shooting them down. All of the well done drone videos people have done have only brought more publicity to the project.

Yes, drones are in a legal grey area. There have been stories of people getting charged with destruction of property when they shoot down drones (let alone the legality of discharging a firearm in suburbia). OTOH, there is also the issue of privacy.

 

[LetsGoFast]

If Tesla doesn't want drone flyovers, they can always hire someone with a shotgun. It is Nevada after all.

Tesla would certainly be liable for damages in that circumstance

Yeah, let's wait for the third side of the story. In both accounts, neither party seems to be taking responsibility for any actions. Saying that they ran into the 4-wheeler sounds crazy, until you put it into the possible perspective that they were boxed in and feeling threatened. I'm not saying that's what happened, just saying there's more here that we're not hearing.

I don't know Nevada law, but some states limit citizen arrest to felonies and essentially every state limits the use of force to restrain to felonies. Throwing a rock through the window of a moving car would be a potentially serious legal problem. As a rule, private security folks are strongly discouraged from using physical force to restrain suspects for minor crimes like trespass. Once the car has struck someone and injured them, it will be easier to justify using force -- but trying to block a trespasser from leaving, especially with your body or an ATV against a car is probably not a best practice.

 

[AnOutsider]

Easy solution: don't trespass. Once they broke the law, TBH, I have little concern about how they "feel".

Well you should if you're going to characterize them based on their actions. The way they're characterized right now (from the blog post), they're violent and uncaring individuals. However, in a different scenario, they could be extremely nosey reporters who got busted sneaking into somewhere and then felt physically threatened.

Also "once they broke the law"... There are various degrees to that. Trespassing != assault != murder. Someone breaking the law doesn't then mean they're instantly fair game for whatever retaliation.

 

[MassModel3]

So the thing is that even by Tesla's report, the journalists "climbed through a fence". This means that by the time they were back at their vehicle (where the altercation took place), they were no longer on Tesla property. At that point, did Tesla employees have any legal right to attempt to detain the journalists? If someone trespasses into your home, you have every right to attack and/or detain them, but if they walk in then leave and they're back on public property, if you touch them you're guilty of assault. It's no longer self defense.

Once the journalists were back at their vehicle, they were assumedly back on public property. Unless they took something of Tesla's with them (and I don't know that pictures count), Tesla had no right to detain them, only the right to take explicit notes or pictures and file a police report. If the Tesla employees were attempting to use their bodies to block the vehicle, I don't know that the journalists were completely at fault for hitting them.