Fircrest insurance agency getting threats, harassment over its Cybertruck
Amid a nationwide protest against Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, an independent insurance agency near Fircrest has been targeted over its Cybertruck.
Last month, Vanessa Voss answered a phone call from a blocked number. A man began the call with four words, “You are a Nazi.” He threatened to kill Voss and told her to kill herself over her Cybertruck, she said.
“I hung up, and they called two more times after that. By the late evening on [March 28], I had received 12 different phone calls,” Voss told The News Tribune last week. “Three of them were from the gentleman.”
Voss is owner of Voss Insurance Group on Center Street. She has been in business for about five years. Her independent insurance agency helps people navigate Medicare and other retirement planning.
At the end of last year, Voss said, she purchased the Cybertruck as an IRS tax write-off for her business. For marketing purposes, the Cybertruck was wrapped with an advertisement for the agency in February. The wrap has the company’s phone number, logo, Voss’s picture and words like “Medicare” written on it. The Cybertruck’s flat surface helps advertise the branding and logo, she said.
“We’re actually not even employed by the federal government,” she said. “Our agency, although we help guide people, has really no affiliation with any government entities.”
Voss said on top of the phone calls, people have been posting false negative reviews of her business. There is also a Reddit thread where someone posted the Cybertruck parked in front of Voss’ home. She learned that someone had commented they wanted to get her truck “blown up.”
The latest incident Voss and her agency dealt with was Tuesday when a man called her office manager and harassed her. Voss said before her office manager hung up, the man allegedly said, “Whoever drives the Cybertruck may want to be careful.”
Voss said she has a rolling police report for the harassment. No one has physically vandalized the Cybertruck, but Voss said she has been in contact with a self-defense company to prepare her and her staff in case the harassment turns violent.
Background on the rage towards Elon Musk
Musk also is the head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. Musk has pushed policies to reduce government spending and downsize the federal workforce. Musk and DOGE’s goal is to cut $1 trillion in federal spending by the end of the fiscal year, according to NPR.
The White House reiterated last month that Trump would not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid benefits.
As a result of Musk’s role in the Trump administration, nonviolent demonstrations and boycotts of Tesla have taken place in the country and around the globe to oppose the CEO. That includes the “Tesla Takedown” movement on March 29.
There also have been attacks on Tesla properties, vehicle lots and charging stations across the nation. Privately owned cars also have been targeted, the Associated Press reports.
In Washington state, a Tesla vehicle-charging station was vandalized overnight Tuesday in Lacey, prompting an investigation by the FBI.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated mid-March the attacks on Tesla properties “is nothing short of domestic terrorism,” according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release.
Voss said it makes no sense that people are claiming online that her agency supports Musk and the Trump administration in getting rid of Medicare. Helping people navigate that systems is her livelihood, she said.
“If the government does get rid of Medicare and Social Security, I’m the first one that loses my job,” Voss said. “So I certainly would not then be in full support of someone getting rid of government programs. They’re absolutely necessary. They’re needed for retirees.”
