- A Tesla owner says he was assaulted simply for owning and driving a Cybertruck.
- Instead of escalating, he chose to spread kindness to fellow Cybertruck owners.
- With threats against Tesla owners running rampant, this is a welcome change of pace.
Robert Oneal, a longtime Tesla investor and Cybertruck owner, got a firsthand lesson in just how polarizing Elon Musk’s angle-shaped pickup can be. The LA resident shared a brief but wild account of his night on social media, writing: “I got punched in the face tonight because I have a Cybertruck. I feel bad for that guy. I tried to hug him after. That didn’t go well.” It turns out that Oneal is going to force it to go well though. He’s now turning that punch into an impetus for kindness.
According to Oneal, the assailant, a roughly 160-pound man, hurled some anti-capitalist rhetoric his way before throwing a punch, seemingly fueled by a mix of Tesla and/or Elon Musk hatred. Unfortunately for him, Oneal outweighs him by about 60 pounds and didn’t go down. Instead of escalating things, he tried to show some goodwill.
Read: Tesla Supercharger Vandalized With Nazi Graffiti, Driver Targeted In Massachusetts
“I forgive him,” Oneal said, noting that he felt bad for the attacker. Rather than let the experience sour his love for Tesla or the Cybertruck, Oneal came up with an unusual response: he now leaves a few bucks, and a dust-drawn heart on Cybertrucks he comes across, a small act of kindness to counterbalance the hate.
Honestly, it’s somewhat ironic too. A guy gets punched for being a so-called “capitalist swine” and, in return, starts quietly redistributing wealth – one Cybertruck windowsill at a time.
Whether this will spark a larger “Cybertruck Pay-It-Forward” movement remains to be seen, but it’s a rare case of a Tesla-related controversy that doesn’t involve Musk’s Twitter X account, questionable hand gestures, exploding batteries, or semi-autonomous crashes. For Oneal, it’s just about turning an unnecessarily hostile moment into something positive.
Will this deter the next Tesla or Musk hater from throwing a tantrum or, even worse, a punch? Probably not. But at least some unsuspecting Cybertruck owners are getting a surprise cash bonus while people figure out how to feel about Tesla’s latest rolling controversy. All over the world, people are protesting both Musk and Tesla, and that includes threats against Tesla owners. Maybe this could serve as a reminder that everyone needs to calm down a little and focus that energy on something more productive.