Soros-Backed Prosecutor Won’t Criminally Charge Minnesota Govt Employee Who Allegedly Vandalized 6 Teslas
Opts for Diversion process: “helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses.”
FOX 9 reported that the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office will not seek criminal charges against Dylan Adams, a fiscal policy analyst for Minnesota’s Department of Human Services. Adams, 33, was arrested last week for allegedly causing $20,000 worth of damage to at least six Tesla vehicles in downtown Minneapolis while walking his dog. Instead, HCAO will seek “diversion.”
According to the report, potential “criminal charges remain on the table,” if Adams were to engage in similar behavior in the future.
In a Monday night statement, HCAO spokesman Daniel Borgertpoepping wrote:
Our main priorities are to secure restitution for the victims and hold Mr. Adams accountable. As a result, we will file for pre-charge diversion to best facilitate both of those goals. This is an approach taken in many property crime cases and helps to ensure the individual keeps their job and can pay restitution, as well as reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses. Criminal prosecution remains a possibility should unlawful behavior continue.
Restitution is important, but it’s not a substitute for accountability. At the time of Adams’ arrest, FOX 9 reported that police considered each of the six incidents a felony, noting that damage to each Tesla exceeded $1,000, meeting the threshold for felony vandalism in every case.
Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara issued a statement in response to the decision:
The Minneapolis Police Department did its job. It identified and investigated a crime trend, identified, and arrested a suspect, and presented a case file to the Hennepin County Attorney Office for consideration of charges. This case impacted at least six different victims and totaled over $20,000 in damages. Any frustration related to the charging decision of the Hennepin County Attorney should be directed solely at her office. Our investigators are always frustrated when the cases they poured their hearts into are declined. In my experience, the victims in these cases often feel the same.
FOX 9 reached out to Adams’ attorney, Robert Paule, who responded with the following comment: “My client is very remorseful for his actions and is beginning the process of making sure the victims are made whole financially. We are grateful for the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office exercise of prosecutorial discretion, and apologize to the victims and law enforcement.”
Adams should be grateful. He is only remorseful because he was caught and publicly humiliated.
Meet Minnesota State employee Dylan Bryan Adams. He was reportedly arrested for allegedly causing over $20,000 in damages to Teslas in Minneapolis after he vandalized them.
The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has decided NOT to file criminal charges.
.@AGPamBondi pic.twitter.com/fKwFhJdAlw
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 22, 2025
Adam’s deliverance comes as no surprise for two reasons. First, Soros-backed Hennepin County District Attorney Mary Moriarty, 59, has developed a reputation for leniency – at least for those with the right political affiliations. Even Minnesota’s progressive Attorney General, Keith Ellison, reportedly clashed with Moriarty over her soft-on-crime approach during her first year in office, according to the New York Post.
Do this to an abortion clinic and people like Mary lock you away. Unequal, politicized justice. https://t.co/XgQ5qo4yJ7
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) April 22, 2025
Mary Moriarty is a different breed of terrible. Even Keith Ellison had to step in and take a case from her after she refused to properly charge a murder.
That’s what you get for putting an activist public defender in the lead prosecutor role.
Minneapolis wanted this.
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) April 22, 2025
Second, just days before Adams went on his vandalism spree, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz publicly vilified Elon Musk during a town hall in Youngstown, Ohio. He said, “It’s okay in America to be successful, we should celebrate that. My beef is once you get successful, don’t be a greedy b**tard and not pay your taxes. What we should demonize is people like Elon Musk.”
Not long before that, Walz openly cheered the decline in Tesla’s stock price, making his disdain for the company and its CEO abundantly clear.
NEW: Tim Walz at his town hall in Youngstown, Ohio: “It’s okay in America to be successful, we should celebrate that. My beef is once you get successful, don’t be a greedy bastard and not pay your taxes. What we should demonize is people like Elon Musk.” pic.twitter.com/thUCKpvt0B
— Marco Foster (@MarcoFoster_) April 8, 2025
🚨 Elon Musk just EVISCERATED Tim Walz for celebrating Tesla’s stock decline
“What a creep, what a jerk. Like, who derives joy from that?”
"Minnesota State Pension fund is a major investor in Tesla. But he didn’t care. He was so overjoyed…”
"Does that sound like a good person… pic.twitter.com/eBYB6EdRlH
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 28, 2025
Attorney General Pam Bondi has said she will treat attacks on Tesla vehicles and dealerships as “domestic terrorism.” Moriarty’s decision not to file charges against Adams sparked calls on social media for federal prosecution instead.
Whether that remains a possibility, however, is still unclear.
Today, we arrested yet another Tesla attacker — and we will not negotiate.
To those who might join this wave of attacks: it is not worth it. We will find you and put you in prison.https://t.co/f4cot8rKec
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) April 18, 2025
One would think that vandals like Adams would know that Teslas come equipped with a built-in suite of 360-degree cameras that provide comprehensive, real-time surveillance around the entire car. According to Tesla’s support page, these cameras are constantly recording when the vehicle is in motion and switch to Sentry Mode when the car is parked. This feature has made Teslas uniquely effective at documenting incidents like vandalism and theft, often providing clear video evidence that has helped law enforcement identify and apprehend suspects.
I suppose that while they might be aware of the cameras, for those most deeply afflicted with Musk Derangement Syndrome, the urge to lash out at anything connected to Elon Musk seems to overpower reason, caution, or even basic self-preservation. In their minds, destruction becomes a form of protest, no matter how self-defeating or illegal it may be.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on LinkedIn or X.
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Comments
What good is documenting vandalism if Communist privilege gives lowlifes like Adams license to do as they please with no consequences?
It’s easier for vigilantes to identify them?
“One would think that vandals like Adams would know that Teslas come equipped with a built-in suite of 360-degree cameras”
One would think that leftist assholes complaining about Kyle Rittenhouse would know the color of the people he shot.
One needs to adjust one’s expectations.
Civil suits are in order. Obviously, a RICO investigation at Federal level should be in effect
Someone needs to take a look at Article 4, Section 4 if there aren’t any specific laws on the books.
The Republican Guarantee clause is irrelevant here. Minnesota has a republican form of government: it has an elected governor and an elected legislature.
Protection against invasion is also irrelevant here. Minnesota isn’t being invaded by Canada, and the Tesla vandals are certainly not invading from anywhere.
Protection from domestic violence requires a request from the legislature, which isn’t going to happen.
Federal civil suit, yes, as his victims were members of an identifiable group and were attacked for their affiliation with that group.
If someone puts up a Go Fund Me and those funds are used to pay off his debt to the victims, his income tax return should be checked. If he doesn’t report the income, the IRS could come down on him.
Which federal law allows a suit for attacks based on membership of “an identifiable group”? As far as I know the federal civil rights laws only cover race, sex, religion, national origin, disability, and age over 40.
If the judges keep doing this sort of thing, vigilantism will make a return and things just might get unpleasant.
Not a judge’s decision. The prosecutor’s. Two tiered justice against supposed Trump supporters – although Tesla owners are more likely to be environmentalists than Trump supporter.
Diversion? On $20K+ of damage for six separate terroristic attacks? That’s what this is; six attempts to create fear and intimidate others based on perceived ideology, philosophy using politically motivated violence. This wasn’t a 15 year old HS student who ‘rolled’ a yard as a prank. If your local officials refuse to prosecute these terrorist incidents then I’d suggest thinking long and hard about getting the heck out of that location before these incidents escalate to something even more violent. You don’t want to be the trail vehicle in the final convoy out of there.
Each victim should sue him, consecutively, and then execute on the judgment in the harshest possible way.
The worst aspect of these lies is that they are so clumsy and stupid that no one – not even the putz who is saying them – actually believes them. Of course there is zero chance of criminal prosecution if Adams decides to let his inner brownshirt run wild again! Of course Adams won’t be out one thin dime, since his Commie pals consider him a Hero of the Revolution (TM) and will pony up on his behalf!
hold Mr. Adams accountable
we will file for pre-charge diversion
These two things are NO(T the same. You are NOT holding him accountable.
This is an approach taken in many property crime cases
Which is why you have so many of them.
reducing the likelihood of repeat offenses
Demonstrates a total disconnect with human nature.
Chauvin remains in prison for using a less than department approved hold on an overdose victim.
Minneapolis is trash
You are actually wrong about the approved maneuver used on Floyd. The Chief of Police and the mayor lied under oath, and it has been proven that what the police did to Floyd was, in fact, an approved maneuver and was found in their training manual. If he ever gets a retrial, things will be different the next time.
a maneuver that ends a life should not be such
The maneuver didn’t end Floyd’s life. The hypertension and massive fentanyl dose did.
Interesting
Explain for everyone here how such a maneuver causes pulmonary edema.
I’ll wait….
He refused to get into the vehicle. Home boy was high as a kite, combative on scene and a pretty big dude with a history of being combative with LEO. The autopsy showed he had all sorts of underlying medical issues (+ Covid FWIW), had large amounts of fentanyl in his system and had a cardio pulmonary arrest.
LEO can be wrong, happens every dang day. They can use excessive force, they can be occasionally be authoritarian aholes. Frankly all the worshipful slobbering and unreservedly leaping to ‘back the blue’ is foolish. Cops are human and make errors including excessive force. IMO this event wasn’t a use of excessive force. It was a very commonly used restraint protocol, was part of the Agency’s training, long-standing practice in the Agency.
And in the case of St. Floyd, no such maneuver was used.
It was at least 6 cars that are known. Might be more? In addition to restitution, he needs to do 6 weeks jail time.
The chances that they identified every single car he keyed are….remote.
Minnesota jails are reserved for Republicans.
DA is a lesbian concerned with racial justice and probably mortified she wasn’t born black. Another Soros scumbag.
This is so wrong. He is an employee of the state and he was making a political statement egged on by his boss. This was a teen on a lark. He needs to be made an example of. He needs to be fired and then prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
As for Walz Musk should sue him for defamation. I doubt Walz has the same immunity congress has and saying Musk doesn’t pay taxes when he has paid billons is definitely defamation.
If I remember Harry Reid correctly, members of Congress only have immunity for anything said on the floor of Congress. Which is why Harry Reid rushed down there so often.
You don’t remember correctly. Their immunity extends to anything they say in the course of their work as a representative, and extends also to their staffers when speaking in the course of their work for the congressman.
Walz is no longer a congressman. He has no immunity.
Indeed. I was responding to the comment about congress. State governors have no such immunity, at least in a federal court.
Yep….wondered why no accompanying photo of DA so assumed must be a purple hair type….
Yep. She’s as Butch as the Sundance Kid’s life partner
he could also pay after serving 6 months IN PRISON
ANOTHER PARTICIPATION TROPHY FOR LEFTY
so they get pissssed when the “cops take care of their own”
but here they are covering for one of their own
If they were teslas in minnesota, then 90% chance they were owned by kamala/walz voters. Such a fool.
As a civil servant, the perp should have been told that he should not do anything that would damage his employer’s reputation.
This perp should be punished by his employer for his criminal act.
I know federal employees who have been fired after their conviction of state crimes.
Umm the same can be said for corporate wage slaves. Get accused of a crime – get shown the door, Corps don’t want any drama other than where their executives create.
Then somebody should curb-stop the grunt.
hope no one finds the car or short bus he is on and keys it
he’ll pay by stealing more tax payers money
Diversion process
We must END therapeutic “justice”! Restore justice to its proper place: punitive and restorative (that is, making the victim whole). The gov’t’s place is justice, not “redeeming” the criminal. He needs to pay the price for his crime. And, yes, I include restitution in that. If he can’t pay it before he goes to prison, then he’ll have to save his nickles, eat the gruel, and get involved in a work program. It will take him 40 years? Tough – he should have thought of the consequences before he acted.
This would solve vast numbers of our problems in America.
It’s easy to order restitution, not so easy to collect. Restitution orders have a very low priority… say lower than paying his Disney+ subscription… and it’s unlikely this particular judge will care if he actually pays.
And there’s another part of the problem.
What a disgrace. I could maybe understand diversion if there were only one vandalized car. Two at the outside. But six? That’s a crime spree. The election of a Soros prosecutor does certainly have consequences Minnesota. Enjoy your decline.
I thought that civilians can file paper work to press charges. If everyone that got damages done files charges, the States Attorney has to press charges.
If damages are at a felony level, I would thing the DA does not have the power to make a judgement call like this.
Not a lawyer. But, I suspect she’s avoiding these kind of avenues (if they exist in MN) by exercising her prosecutorial discretion. She’s technically not refusing to prosecute. Instead, she’s allowing the defendant to seek diversionary justice.
if it is in different counties, someone else could file.
ubdivision 1.Criminal damage to property in the first degree.
Whoever intentionally causes damage to physical property of another without the latter’s consent may be sentenced to imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both, if:
(1) the damage to the property caused a reasonably foreseeable risk of bodily harm; or
(2) the property damaged was a public safety motor vehicle, the defendant knew the vehicle was a public safety motor vehicle, and the damage to the vehicle caused a substantial interruption or impairment of public safety service or a reasonably foreseeable risk of bodily harm; or
(3) the property damaged belongs to a common carrier and the damage impairs the service to the public rendered by the carrier; or
(4) the damage reduces the value of the property by more than $1,000 measured by the cost of repair and replacement; or
(5) the damage reduces the value of the property by more than $500 measured by the cost of repair and replacement and the defendant has been convicted within the preceding three years of an offense under this subdivision or subdivision 2.
In any prosecution under clause (4), the value of any property damaged by the defendant in violation of that clause within any six-month period may be aggregated and the defendant charged accordingly in applying the provisions of this section; provided that when two or more offenses are committed by the same person in two or more counties, the accused may be prosecuted in any county in which one of the offenses was committed for all of the offenses aggregated under this paragraph.
“prosecutorial discretion” is just a touch feely synonym for prosecutorial corruption
Upvoted because you speak the truth, not because I like what you had to say! LOL
Nope. Prosecutors have absolute discretion on whether to charge someone and what to charge them with. Victims have no rights in the matter.
I hope journalists keep a very close eye on the ‘restitution’ that’s requested by the prosecution and eventually ordered by the judge. Depending on the damage that was done, where it was (on the car) and what kind of paint is is, PROPERLY repairing ‘keying’ of a car can require an full-car respray. Will the judge allow low-ball estimates to repair these vehicles or will the judge order restitution be submitted that fully sates the victims, restoring the cars to original spec? We could see ‘restitution’ measured in $1K or restitution measured in $7,500 (or more), the rough minimum cost for a full-car respray. (I’m a car nerd, so this is a huge peeve of mine).
Isn’t it a “hate crime”? Or even domestic terrorism? I feel like there should be federal charges here
It isn’t a “hate crime” because it wasn’t motivated by the victims’ perceived sex, race, religion, or any other trait listed by law. Political affiliation isn’t listed.
But there’s probably a federal charge to be found, if DOJ looks for one.
If AG Bondi bothers to find a Federal charge and really pursues it, the guy could end up wishing he was charged higher in MN.
I would dearly love to see the lesbian DA’s car get keyed. I wonder what she would do regarding charges?
Wow – what a miserable city and state to live in! Democrats suck!
Kamaltoe Harris when asked agreed,
I thought the left created hate crimes for this exact reason. They demanded Congress pass a hate crime law and they did. Bondi may be able to use it to go after this scum. The law also bars defacing, damaging, or destroying religious property because of the race, color, or ethnicity of persons associated with the property. If any of these Teslas belong to a person of color or a religious group, he may be charged under the hate crime law.
Federal civil rights laws don’t cover political affiliation.
It doesn’t matter what the victims’ race or religion might be; the crime wasn’t motivated by that. The criminal didn’t even know that. It was motivated by their perceived political affiliation, and that’s not covered.
Here are some examples of felony penalties in statute:
first-degree murder: a life sentence
first-degree criminal sexual conduct: maximum of 30 years’ imprisonment and a $40,000 fine
second-degree manslaughter: maximum of ten years’ imprisonment and a $20,000 fine
third-degree burglary: maximum of five years’ imprisonment and a $10,000 fine, and
criminal damage to property ($500 to $1,000): maximum imprisonment of one year and a day and a $3,000 fine.
lefty:
hate the car
not the crime
Rule 2.02. Approval of Prosecutor
A complaint must not be issued without the prosecutor’s signature, unless a judge certifies
on the complaint that the prosecutor is unavailable and that issuance of the complaint should not
be delayed.
This idiot should spend a little time in jail so he can really think about this.
I would look at him for voter fraud too.
data analyst Dylan Bryan Adams
Why, in the name of all that’s holy, do we say ‘allegedly’ when we can watch him doing it right on camera?
It’s not alleged. He did it. We have no need for a trial. No need for some leftist judge, no need for any lawyers. Send him to prison.
This is the biggest problem with our system of justice. People we KNOW committed the crimes they committed are treated as if they may not have.
Even when we can watch them do it on camera.
And even after that they can sit on death row appealing for years, decades –when we have them on camera committing the crime they were sentenced to death for. There’s video, execute NOW.
Rudy Giuliani forgot to say “allegedly” when we all saw Ruby Freeman count the same ballot multiple times and it cost him $148,000,000
No, we didn’t see her do that, because she didn’t do it, and that is why she won.
“Why, in the name of all that’s holy, do we say ‘allegedly’ when we can watch him doing it right on camera?”
In case he has an even eviller twin.
I agree with the initial portion of your post. Not with the latter.
Our system of justice is not only meant to prevent the conviction of innocent persons, it’s been long recognized that that’s at the expense of occasionally not convicting a guilty person. When the system is run as it should be (by the rules and apolitically), it usually works. The problems start when the rules aren’t followed and the decision to prosecute/not prosecute turns on politics (as it does in this situation). It’s not the system that’s failing, it’s the people running it. The system was meant to be run by honest, honorable, and disciplined people, not the sorts who are running too many of these systems across the country. It’s these people who need the heave-ho, not the systems they run.
“The system was meant to be run by honest, honorable, and disciplined people”
No wonder it can’t work.
“It would be a dangerous delusion were a confidence in the men of our choice to silence our fears for the safety of our rights. Confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism. Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence.”
–Thomas Jefferson: Draft, Kentucky Resolutions, 1798.
The Dhimmi-crat/leftist Get Out of Jail Free card — “Membership has its privileges;” “Don’t leave home without it.”
The original Nazis were a street fighting gang that intimidated their political opposition through violence, assault, property damage and general thuggery. Very effective at ruining people’s lives. And businesses, hello!
So our left now behaves exactly the same. Using Nazi methods. Ironic they carve swastikas into cars. Who knew we would be dealing with Nazis who are our neighbors and countrymen?
This is terrorism, straight up. Excused by Democrats. The battle lines are being drawn.
Excused by democrats?? What are you writing?? It is done by democrats!!!!
Time for the federal government to charge him with terrorism so he can spend 20 years in GITMO.
Citizen Posse.
Being a longtime MN resident, southern suburb but in Hennepin county, there is a 99+% chance that all the Tesla’s are owned by upper class progressive voters.
You get what you vote for, usually good and hard!
I have finished my retirement home in a different state and plan to be gone before Christmas.
I moved here 25yrs ago and the change in the Minneapolis culture from then until now is unbelievable.
Surely there are Federal terrorism charges that can brought against this mope.
Surely if the left feds can hijack the prosecution of a Minneapolis policeman, the right feds can hijack the prosecution of a Minneapolis city wonk.
“right” feds. I get it.
Diversion means that there were criminal charges. How would there be anything from which to diverge if he was not charged?