• Tesla owners reported a man placing Elon Musk stickers on their cars to the police.
  • Officers tracked down the man and charged him with defacing property days later.
  • The man insists his free speech rights justify placing the stickers on the vehicles.

Over the weekend, police in Massachusetts received calls about a person placing stickers on cars in the Boston suburb of Brookline. But these weren’t your average “I Love My Prius” type of decals. No, these stickers featured an image of Elon Musk making a gesture some view as a Nazi salute. And the sticker bomber, if we might call him that, was targeting Teslas.

Now, police say they’ve identified the suspect and charged him with defacing property. The suspect, however, argues it’s his right under the First Amendment to place the stickers.

At least one Tesla owner captured on camera an interaction with the man. In the short clip, the man sits stationary on a bicycle and talks with the Tesla owner. “Why do you think you have the right to do that,” the owner asks. “It’s my free speech,” says the bicycle rider.

Read: Dozen Teslas Torched At French Dealer Causing Over $730,000 In Damages

The Tesla driver took that video to the police, who later posted it online, asking for tips about the suspect’s identity. Now, they say that they found the individual on Wednesday and cited him for six counts of defacing property.

We’re not going to pretend to be legal experts here, but it’ll be interesting to see how this plays out. While a sticker doesn’t necessarily fall under free speech, it’s worth noting that bumper stickers are generally protected under the First Amendment—well, as long as you’re the owner of the car you’re putting them on.

Interestingly, Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in on the incident after the Brookline Police Department tweeted about it. Musk made it clear: “Damaging the property of others, aka vandalism, is not free speech!” Fair point, though we’re pretty sure Musk’s idea of “free speech” is a little different when it involves something he doesn’t agree with.

In a 1991 case, an Alabama court reversed the conviction of a man who had what some believed to be an obscene bumper sticker, ruling it was protected because it had “serious literary and political value.”

Will the same standard apply if someone else applies the sticker? Would it be different if the suspect had simply placed a note, advertisement, or photo on the car? Only time will tell. Brookline police booked Randall and set his bail at just $2,500.

As far as crimes against Tesla and Tesla owners go lately, at least this one was pretty low-key, unlike several others. No flaming cars or shocking property damage, just a guy riding around on his bike, spreading his thoughts—whether anyone asked for them or not.