“If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me,” Musk tweeted.
Telsa CEO Elon Musk continued to defy California and Alameda County authorities by restarting production at the company’s Fremont assembly plant Monday, saying he was ready to be arrested himself if necessary, CBS San Francisco reported. The announcement came days after Musk filed a lawsuit against the county to reopen the factory, which is Tesla’s only vehicle assembly plant in the U. S.
Shift workers were seen streaming in and out of the sprawling plant in the pre-dawn hours, filling up the employee parking lot. The company reportedly has deployed additional PPE masks and taken other measures similar to those used to reopen the automaker’s plant in Shanghai, China.
Verve, quoting two unnamed workers, said production had actually restarted on a limited basis over the weekend and around 200 Model Y and Model 3 vehicles had rolled off the assembly line.
Monday afternoon, Musk said production was indeed restarting at the Fremont facility. “Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules,” he tweeted. “I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”
“Yes, California approved, but an unelected county official illegally overrode,” he added. “Also, all other auto companies in US are approved to resume. Only Tesla has been singled out. This is super messed up!”
Earlier Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom said he was unaware that the Telsa plant had restarted operations.
