http://www.theverge.com/2015/10/13/9521561/tesla-gigafactory-trespassing-assault
Tesla says journalists snuck into Gigafactory and assaulted its employees
By Chris Welch on October 13, 2015
A confrontation between Tesla and two trespassing journalists has resulted
in felony assault charges. Tesla is publicly sharing its side of the
troubling incident, which occurred last Friday, in a blog post published
today. According to the company, an employee noticed two people snapping
photos of the Gigafactory, Tesla's still-under-construction lithium-ion
battery factory, and immediately called for assistance.
The journalists refused to identify themselves once notified that they were
illegally trespassing on Tesla property, though Tesla notes that IDs from
the Reno Gazette Journal were hanging from their pockets and plainly
visible. (Both were later confirmed as RGJ employees, in case you were
wondering whether they were merely impersonating journalists.) They also
tried to argue that they weren't knowingly trespassing, though Tesla says
the only way into the Gigafactory is through a fence with plenty of "private
property" warnings.
The journalists were asked to remain at the scene while the local Sheriff's
department and more Tesla security responded to the complaint. And that's
when things just got downright insane. Here's how Tesla says the events
unfolded:
Disregarding this request, the RGJ employees entered the Jeep. As the
Tesla employee attempted to record the license plate number on the rear
bumper, the driver put it in reverse and accelerated into the Tesla
employee, knocking him over, causing him to sustain a blow to the left hip,
an approximate 2" bleeding laceration to his right forearm, a 3" bleeding
laceration to his upper arm, and scrapes on both palms.
As the RGJ employees fled the scene, their Jeep struck the ATV that
carried the two safety managers. When one of the safety managers dismounted
the ATV and approached the Jeep, the driver of the Jeep accelerated into
him, striking him in the waist.
One of the journalists, photographer Andy Barron, is being charged with two
counts of felony assault, and both will face trespassing charges. Tesla is
understandably livid about the situation, as it would seem these journalists
ignored common sense (and the law) in pursuing a scoop on the company's $5
billion battery plant.
"We appreciate the interest in the Gigafactory, but the repeated acts of
trespassing, including by those working for the RGJ, is illegal, dangerous
and needs to stop," Tesla said in its blog post. "In particular, we will not
stand for assaults on our employees and are working with law enforcement to
investigate this incident and ensure that those responsible are brought to
justice."
So far, the Reno Gazette Journal has not sought to discredit or dispute
Tesla's version of the story, but says its jeep came away with a shattered
driver's side window — said to be smashed with a rock — and slashed
seatbelt. For its part, Tesla says the RGJ jeep struck its security ATV and
hit another safety manager in the waist before arrests were made. "We take
this situation very seriously and it is under investigation at this time,"
publisher John Maher said in a statement. Barron has worked as a
photographer for the company since 1998.
[© theverge.com]
http://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2015/10/13/assault-and-batteries-tesla-alleges-gigafactory.html
Assault and batteries: Tesla alleges Gigafactory employee was struck and
injured by trespassing journalists' Jeep
Oct 13, 2015 Leia Parker
Palo Alto-based Tesla Motors alleged Tuesday in a blog post that two Reno
Gazette-Journal employees trespassed onto its Gigafactory property last
Friday in Nevada, reversing a Jeep into a Tesla employee and injuring him as
they tried to flee the area.
The Storey County, Nevada, Sheriff's Department arrested one of the Reno
Gazette-Journal employees for two counts of felony assault with a deadly
weapon and advised that both will be charged with trespassing, Tesla said
...
A Tesla safety manager received a complaint on Friday about two trespassers
taking pictures at the $5 billion Gigafactory — a lithium-ion battery
factory, which is still being built. He found the two, told them they were
trespassing and asked their names, Tesla said. The two refused to give their
names, even though their Reno Gazette-Journal ID credentials were hanging
from their pockets, the electric-car manufacturer said.
A second safety manager joined the first Tesla employee, and they asked the
two RGJ employees to wait, as security management and the sheriff's
department were on their way, Tesla said.
The RGJ employees got into a Jeep marked with RGJ decals and tried to leave,
Tesla said.
"As the Tesla employee attempted to record the license plate number on the
rear bumper, the driver put it in reverse and accelerated into the Tesla
employee, knocking him over, causing him to sustain a blow to the left hip,
an approximate 2” bleeding laceration to his right forearm, a 3” bleeding
laceration to his upper arm, and scrapes on both palms," Tesla wrote in the
blog post.
The Jeep struck the safety managers' ATV, and then struck one of the safety
managers in the waist when he climbed off the ATV, Tesla said.
[© bizjournals.com]
http://lasvegassun.com/news/2015/oct/13/journalist-faces-assault-charges-after-incident-at/
Journalist faces assault charges after incident at Tesla plant near Reno
By Daniel Rothberg | Oct. 13, 2015
[image
http://photos.lasvegassun.com/media/img/photos/2015/09/01/Tesla_t653.jpg
Framing of Tesla Motors’ new factory under construction is visible June 14,
2015, behind the security gate on Electric Avenue at the Tahoe Reno
Industrial Center about 15 miles east of Sparks along U.S. Interstate 80.
] ...
Just before noon Friday, the journalists climbed through a fence marked
“private property” at the plant but denied they were trespassing, Tesla said
...
comment
LasVegasChris40
Its time journalists get it through their heads a press pass dont mean they
can break the law..this is why i hate the media...at least the Las Vegas Sun
has smart reporters
© Las Vegas Sun, 2015]
...
http://fortune.com/2015/10/13/tesla-factory-trespassing/
Tesla says two Nevada journalists snuck into its factory and injured its
employees
by Kia Kokalitcheva October 13, 2015
A bizarre tale of trespassing, [bad] journalism, and a factory.
Journalists sometimes go to great lengths to obtain valuable information,
but a couple of them may have crossed some lines on Friday.
According to a blog post from Tesla Motors [
http://www.teslamotors.com/blog/journalists-trespass-assault-tesla-employees-gigafactory
] on Tuesday, two journalists snuck into its Gigafactory in Nevada on Friday
evening to take photos and look around the facilities before a security
guard caught them. Long story short, the incident ended with two Tesla
employees sustaining injuries and one arrest for felony assault with a
deadly weapon ...
[© fortune.com]
...
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/tesla-says-reno-journalist-struck-security-guards-on-gigafactory-grounds/
Tesla says Reno journalist drove into security guards on Gigafactory grounds
by Megan Geuss - Oct 13, 2015 Law&Disorder / Civilization&Discontents
Journalist was charged with two counts of felony assault and one count
trespassing.
[© 2015 Condé Nast]
...
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/10/13/nevada-journalist-arrested-after-altercation-at-tesla-facility.html#
Nevada journalist arrested after altercation at Tesla facility
Fred Imbert | [2015/10/13]
[Violators' media outlet story]
http://www.rgj.com/story/news/2015/10/09/rgj-photographer-arrested-after-altercation-withtesla-security-guards/73693850/
RGJ photographer arrested after altercation with security guards near Tesla
gigafactory
Anjeanette Damon October 9, 2015
A Reno Gazette-Journal photographer was arrested Friday after an altercation
with private security guards protecting the Tesla gigafactory site in Storey
County.
Andy Barron was booked on a charge of battery with a deadly weapon, Storey
County Sheriff Gerald Antinoro said.
“He was arrested after an altercation with the security guards when they
attempted to detain him for trespassing,” Antinoro said.
Antinoro said Barron tried to drive away from guards and “either hit or
almost hit one or more of the security officers.”
“They were stopped at that point in time and detained until my people got
there and conducted an investigation that led to the arrest of whoever was
driving the vehicle,” Antinoro said.
Reno Gazette-Journal Publisher John Maher said the newspaper is taking the
incident seriously.
“We take this situation very seriously and it is under investigation at this
time,” Maher said.
Barron has been a photographer at the Reno Gazette-Journal since 1998.
The newspaper’s vehicle was damaged in the altercation. A rock had been used
to shatter the driver’s-side window and the driver’s-side seat belt had been
cut in half.
Antinoro said he couldn’t confirm how that damage occurred.
Antinoro said he didn’t know if the security guards worked directly for
Tesla or were employed by a company contracted to work at the site. He said
their names were unavailable.
“They did have contract security at one point in time,” Antinoro said. “I
was led to believe they were discontinuing the contract security and having
their own people.”
[© rgj.com]
http://www.wired.com/2015/10/attack-of-the-tesla-clones-from-china/
Attack of the Chinese Tesla Clones
10.13.15
For EVLN EV-newswire posts use:
http://evdl.org/evln/
{brucedp.150m.com}
--
View this message in context:
http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Assault-Batteries-Trespassing-media-s-ice-injures-Gigafactory-employee-tp4678071.html
Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at
Nabble.com.
_______________________________________________
UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub
http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/
Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
