Tesla booted from Vancouver International Auto Show over ‘safety of attendees’

FILE-A Tesla store in Vallejo, California, US, on Tuesday, June 25, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

The Vancouver International Auto Show is excluding Tesla from its yearly exhibition over worries about safety.

The show’s executive director, Eric Nicholl, told FOX Business the show “has removed Tesla as a participant in this week’s event.”

“The Vancouver Auto Show’s primary concern is the safety of attendees, exhibitors and staff,” he said. “This decision will ensure all attendees can be solely focused on enjoying the many positive elements of the event.”

Protests against Tesla and Elon Musk, the CEO of the automaker and the head of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, have been occurring in parts of Canada in recent days, The Associated Press reported.

Tesla has also been contending with demonstrations and vandalism in the U.S.

In Oregon, someone shot at a Tesla dealership and vehicles parked at it last week, according to the AP. Several Tesla charging stations have also been set on fire in Massachusetts.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said someone used “incendiary devices” to “set multiple Tesla vehicles on fire” at a Tesla collision center early Tuesday morning. The vandal also allegedly shot at Tesla vehicles there.

Prior to Vancouver International Auto Show organizers taking the safety-motivated step of removing Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla was “provided multiple opportunities to voluntarily withdraw” from the event, Nicholl said.

The Vancouver International Auto Show describes itself as “Western Canada’s premiere automotive experience and B.C.’s best-attended consumer show.” This year’s edition of the multi-day auto show kicked off Wednesday, with numerous manufacturers, dealers and businesses having displays, according to its website.

Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday called the “swarm of violent attacks on Tesla property” in the U.S. recently “nothing short of domestic terrorism” in a press release.

“If you’re going to touch a Tesla, go to a dealership, do anything, you better watch out, because we’re coming after you,” she said of vandals during a Friday appearance on “Mornings with Maria.” “And if you’re funding this, we’re coming after you. We’re going to find out who you are.”

Musk has said on X that Tesla “just makes electric cars and has done nothing to deserve these evil attacks.”

Tesla’s lineup of vehicles includes the Model S, Model 3, Model Y, Model X and Cybertruck. It also produces electric semitrucks.

Kristen Altus contributed to this report.