Report: Tesla Whistleblower Was Falsely Accused of Making Violent Threats

Tesla whistleblower Martin Tripp was reportedly falsely accused of making violent threats in June against Tesla’s Nevada factory.

A new report from Ars Technica revealed that Tesla whistleblower Martin Tripp was falsely accused of making violent threats against the car manufacturer. On June 20, an anonymous caller told police that Tripp was “heavily armed” and headed for Tesla’s Nevada factory. Tripp’s attorney, Stuart D. Meissner, wrote on Twitter that Tripp was effectively “swatted,” which refers to the practice of sending in false threats of violence to initiate a SWAT team visit to an innocent person’s home.

I present the “GigaGate” Police Reports Re the Tesla Giga Factory Terrorist Threat Incident & what may turn out to B the “SWATing” of our client.
We have asked to reopen the investigation as to the source of the reported “threat.” Judge for yourself https://t.co/SYKpcQfjcl

— Stuart D. Meissner Esq. (@StuartMeissner) August 1, 2018

Tripp is currently being sued by Tesla for allegedly stealing company data. Tripp found himself at the center of national media coverage after he revealed that 1,100 damaged batteries were installed in Model 3 cars that have been sold to consumers. Tripp also revealed that Tesla had exaggerated the number of Model 3 cars that had been produced at the Nevada factory. Tesla denies both allegations made by Tripp. Tripp told reporters in June that Elon Musk is “waging war” on him.

Local police ultimately found Tripp unarmed after receiving the tip that he was on his way to “shoot up Tesla.” Police still have not identified the source of the fake police tip that could have resulted in violence against Tripp.

In December 2017, Breitbart News reported that a gamer was killed during a “swatting” prank. A fake threat of violence was made by a man pretending to be 25-year-old Tyler Barriss. When SWAT teams arrived at Barriss’ home, they shot and killed him.

It’s not entirely clear why Tripp was falsely accused of making violent threats against the Nevada Tesla factory. “How did it go from the call center to a very serious terrorist threat?” Meissner said in a comment. “I think that’s a question that Tesla is going to have to answer in this litigation,” Will Fischbach, another attorney for Tripp said.