Judge orders release of UMass student accused of Tesla firebombing so he can continue sex change

A 19-year-old Kansas City man was arrested in Massachusetts last month in connection with the March 17 firebombing of the Missouri Tesla Center.

Owen McIntire, a University of Massachusetts physics student who returned home for spring break, allegedly tossed a pair of Molotov cocktails into the Kansas City dealership, damaging a pair of charging stations and two Cybertrucks, each valued at over $105,000. McIntire was slapped with federal criminal charges: one count of unlawful possession of an unregistered destructive device and one count of malicious damage by fire of any property used in interstate commerce.

Despite protest from attorneys for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of Missouri, a progressive Boston-based judge granted McIntire's petition for release from federal custody on April 24, partly to ensure that he could continue his sex change.

'This care, along with mental health support, is integral to his wellbeing.'

Government attorneys argued for keeping McIntire locked up ahead of his trial, citing a statutory presumption of detention for terrorism-related offenses and the public risk he might pose, reported KMBC-TV.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Jessica Hedges of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts appears, however, to have been alternately persuaded by the claims of McIntire's lawyers — that he is a mentally fragile pillar of the community who desperately needs to be home to continue his so-called "gender-affirming medical care."

Court records reviewed by KMBC claim the alleged firebomber has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, gender dysphoria, depression, and ADHD — a supposed disorder experts have indicated may not have any basis in biology.

"He also receives gender-affirming medical care, which began in March of this year and is likely to be interrupted or terminated entirely if he remains in pretrial detention," states a court filing from Hedges. "This care, along with mental health support, is integral to his wellbeing. By moving back home with his parents, he will have access to the care providers who are familiar with him and his specific needs."

'You will spend decades behind bars.'

Hedges reportedly agreed to release McIntire on the conditions that he stay at his parents' home with electronic monitoring and remain within Wyandotte and Johnson counties.

According to a law enforcement affidavit filed in the case, a Kansas City Missouri Police Department officer saw billowing smoke coming from a Cybertruck parked outside the Tesla dealership around 11:16 p.m. on March 17. The officer found an unbroken Molotov cocktail near the burning vehicle.

As the officer was unable to extinguish the flames, the blaze spread to a second Cybertruck. The Kansas City Fire Department ultimately subdued the inferno.

On the basis of surveillance footage, witness testimony, and DNA evidence, police identified McIntire as their prime suspect.

Investigators linked a vehicle observed parking nearby the Tesla dealership before the incident then departing afterward to McIntire, then confirmed on the basis of his cellular phone's historical GPS location, flight records, social media posts, and other information that he was indeed in the Kansas City area at the time.

"Let me be extremely clear to anyone who still wants to firebomb a Tesla property: you will not evade us," Attorney General Pam Bondi said following McIntire's arrest earlier this month. "You will be arrested. You will be prosecuted. You will spend decades behind bars. It is not worth it."

McIntire is scheduled to appear in federal court on Thursday.

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