Paul Hyon Kim, 36, was taken into custody by the Las Vegas Metro Police on Friday in connection with the March 18 attack on the Tesla showroom located on West Badura Avenue in Las Vegas, Nevada
Federal charges have been brought against a man who was arrested earlier this month for allegedly lighting Tesla cars on fire in Las Vegas as part of an alleged Molotov cocktail attack.
According to the Metro Police, Paul Hyon Kim faces charges of arson and property destruction. Amid the continuous demonstrations at Tesla stores protesting owner Elon Musk’s conduct during Donald Trump’s administration, the dealership on the 600 block of West Badura Avenue caught fire early in the morning after receiving allegations of damage.
Who is videographer Paul Hyon Kim who set fire to Tesla cars in Las Vegas as seen in viral video, bio, age, nationality, education and job
Paul Hyon Kim, 36, faces charges in connection with the March 18 attack in both state and federal court in Nevada and was charged by criminal complaint with one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered firearm and one count of arson. Kim who set fire to the Tesla dealership is a Vegas-based cinematographer who has promoted pro-Palestinian causes on social media, his social media shows. He studied Film and Video Studies at the Central Washington University. He is a Freelance Videographer living in Las Vegas.
Age 36 American Kim who works at Freelance Film Crew was charged with 15 counts ranging from destruction of property, suspicion of arson, and possessing a fire device, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Investigators linked him to the attacks through DNA evidence found at the scene and was also allegedly filmed using a rifle to shoot out security cameras in the area of the attack, before allegedly turning the gun on the Teslas and bombing them with Molotov cocktails.
Pictures of Paul Hyon Kim domestic terrorist. Very odd that this was his FB Cinematography page and he's following mostly leftwing news outlets. pic.twitter.com/WVjgCH7zWN
— 🎬 Robert Hatton 🎶🎸 (@TheRobertHatton) March 27, 2025
License plate readers indicated that Kim drove to the Tesla center and parked nearby and then sped away after the attack.
🚨THREAD: Paul Hyon Kim, 36, has been arrested for torching a row of Teslas with Molotov cocktails and spray-painting "RESIST" across the entrance of the Tesla service center in Las Vegas.
The legacy media radicalized this Democrat.
Here are his social media posts.👇 pic.twitter.com/EkethjUKPf
— KanekoaTheGreat (@KanekoaTheGreat) March 27, 2025
The Las Vegas Metro Police released the video of the event, in which the suspect possibly Paul Hyon Kim arrives at the Tesla showroom while wearing a black mask. After that, he is seen using a Molotov cocktail to firebomb the building.
On March 18, at 2:45 a.m., police received their first fire alarm calls. Kim was charged with 15 counts and taken to the Clark County Detention Center in Clark County, Nevada.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, a local news website, the allegations include suspicion of arson, possession or disposal of a fire device, and destruction or injury to another person’s real or personal property valued at $5,000 or more. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force and the Clark County Fire Department were in charge of the suspect’s investigation.
This is 36-year old Paul Hyon Kim. He wanted to be famous. Let’s make sure he’s famous. 20 years in prison for being a domestic terrorist works. pic.twitter.com/vFeTYaehcr
— Savannah (@BasedSavannah) March 27, 2025
During a news conference earlier Thursday, a representative for the LVMPD described the activities as having “hallmarks of terrorism.” In addition to the Tesla dealership being set on fire, the Tesla repair centre’s walls and door were painted with graffiti.
“This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility,” said Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren of the Las Vegas Metro Police.
At least ten attacks on Tesla dealerships in the US have been reported since late January 2025. These events, which have targeted Tesla vehicles and infrastructure across several states, have included vandalism, shooting, and arson. The FBI and ATF are among the law enforcement organizations aggressively looking into these incidents, considering them to be possible acts of domestic terrorism.
A far-left extremist named Paul Hyon Kim has been federally charged over the March 18 firebombing attack on Tesla property in Las Vegas. Kim's LinkedIn states he was or is a videographer for @TheYoungTurks.
Kim's social media is filled with posts supporting the 2020 BLM-Antifa… https://t.co/Zeq34evzEs pic.twitter.com/xmrU7boxKk
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) March 28, 2025