During a press briefing on Thursday, Las Vegas authorities said that the individual suspected of vandalizing a Tesla dealership has 'loose but self-proclaimed' ties to the Communist Party USA.
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NewsTranscript
00:00in his vehicle.
00:02As of now, a preliminary assessment – and we are still – we have a lot of data to
00:06go through and a lot of investigative work that needs to be followed up on, but a preliminary
00:10assessment of the suspect's social media activity indicates some very loose but self-proclaimed
00:15ties to the Communist Party USA social media group, as well as social media groups called
00:20Revolutionary Communist International, Hidden Palestine, Palestine Action, and a variety
00:26of other social media groups.
00:28And as part of our investigation is to dig further into it and to be able to determine
00:32additional motive and other potential concerns.
00:38At this point in time, the suspect was placed immediately on 24-7 surveillance by our specialized
00:42units to ensure public safety and preserve evidence.
00:47Additional evidence was collected as we continued our investigation, and the suspect was ultimately
00:51arrested yesterday evening.
00:54A search warrant was then obtained and served by the LVMPD SWAT team, which is by far one
00:59of the best, if not the best, SWAT teams in the country that were able to do that safely
01:02and quickly.
01:03And as a part of their operation, we were able to conduct searches of two vehicles linked
01:07to the suspect, the suspect's apartment, and we were also able to collect a buckle
01:12swab for DNA to be able to compare that to the DNA that we recovered from the scene.
01:18Our searches revealed numerous items of interest to include multiple rifles, a shotgun, a handgun,
01:24and miscellaneous gun parts.
01:27You can see a photo to my left of some of the items that were recovered.
01:30We also were able to recover ammunition in multiple calibers to include the caliber that
01:34was used in the crime.
01:37We also recovered numerous electronic devices, which our partners at the FBI are quickly
01:41analyzing.
01:43We also recovered a black gun belt with a pouch that had pink paint residue on it.
01:49You can see a photo of that to my left.
01:52As well as a black backpack with pink paint, face masks, and other articles of clothing
01:56that are consistent with the suspect's description.
02:00We also recovered other key pieces of evidence that we're still evaluating at this time
02:04that do connect the suspect to this attack.
02:07Finally, I will also say about the search warrants, we were able to do a buckle swab.
02:12We were able to – our lab did an amazing job quickly collecting that evidence and analyzing
02:16it.
02:17They worked through the night, nonstop, late hours, because they know how important this
02:19case is to our community.
02:21And ultimately, that DNA that was collected from our subject does match – it was a positive
02:25identification to the DNA that we collected on scene.
02:30It's also worth noting – well, excuse me, I'll just kind of conclude here by talking
02:39about the charges.
02:40So for now, at this point in time, he was charged with numerous felonies to include
02:45three counts of arson, third degree, three counts of unlawful possession of explosive
02:50or incendiary device, four counts of destroying property, and five counts of discharging a
02:55firearm into a vehicle or structure.
02:58The suspect remains in custody, and we're working closely with the Clark County District
03:01Attorney's Office and the United States Attorney's Office on the prosecution.
03:07And with that, I do want to transition to our federal partners, and I'll just emphasize
03:10this.
03:11I said this last time, which is our partnership is second to none.
03:15And it goes with all of our partners that we have at the Fusion Center, but particularly
03:18with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the special agent in charge that's here.
03:22We've had a remarkable relationship, and this has proven true in this case as well.
03:26We've worked hand-in-hand on all of these cases and on this case as well, and we have
03:30a tremendous amount of resources behind it because of the sheriff and the SAC being so
03:33committed on this case.