Journalists Trespass, Assault Tesla employees at the Gigafactory

[ecarfan]

This has been my point since the beginning. They demonstrated provocative, aggressive behavior. There was no reason for them to try to detain the journalists or prevent their escape. Leave that to the police. They could describe the car, they knew their employer, and very likely had it on CCTV.

I agree. Based on the description of the incident in that news report, while the two journalists were clearly trespassing, the security guards went to far in attempting to detain them after they had left Tesla property (which I assume they did when they turned around and went through the fence). The guards should have simply noted the license plate number from a distance and taken photos of the journalists on Tesla property. And the guards should have body cams.
Of course the journalists broke the law by trespassing and it appears one of them assaulted one of the guards with the vehicle. They deserve to be prosecuted for that.
Both sides acted stupidly, all because of some photos taken from a distance of a big building. The journalists caused the problem by trespassing and the guards escalated the situation in an irresponsible manner.

 

[wdolson]

We still don't know how much of each side's story is truth, how much is exaggeration, and how much is fabrication. All we know is the DA saw enough evidence to file charges against one of the reporters, and the RGJ has pictures of a damaged Jeep. Both sides claim there was an altercation, and both sides say the RGJ people were trespassing having gone through a fence saying no trespassing. We don't have any proof the RGJ Jeep pictured was the one involved in the incident, nor do we know the damage pictured happened in the incident.

The police and the DA probably know more than that, but they aren't telling the world.

Both sides probably did something wrong, but from what I've seen, I can't tell you exactly what is fabricated or exaggerated and what is the unvarnished truth. All I can say is both versions of the story conflict on some key points.

RGJ is attempting to try Tesla in the court of public opinion, and Tesla sort of attempted the same thing with its press release.

To anyone who believes one side or the other of this story, I suggest the movie Rashoman. It's a Japanese movie from 1952, but it so perfectly illustrates this sort of thing that you may hear someone refer to something as a "Rashoman situation" from time to time. When I saw it in a world cinema class in college, the professor guaranteed we'd hear the phrase in the media within 6 months. I didn't think so, but sure enough I heard a reference on a radio news story about 3 months later.

 

[Doug_G]

Now I'm no expert on ATV's, but they're typically fairly light with large balloonish tires. They are certainly not designed for running anything off the road, let alone a full size Jeep. No way. Sorry, not buying it..

You're right, that is patently ridiculous. It would be suicidal to attempt something like that.

Yes, both sides have presented their versions, and the truth is somewhere in-between... but some of the media claims truly stretch credulity.