May 12, 2020 Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk has picked a new fight - this time with the State of California.
Musk is defying the California county that blocked the electric car manufacturer from reopening its only U.S. car plant by restarting production at the facility and daring authorities to arrest him for violating lockdown orders.
"I will be on the line with everyone else," Musk Tweeted Monday. "If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me."
Tesla told production workers earlier that it was getting back to work at its factory in Fremont, California, after local officials stood in the way of reopening last week. Musk drew words of support from the U.S. Treasury Secretary and several other chief executives after he threatened to pull the company out of California and move to another state such as Texas or Nevada.
Musk's attack has made local officials in Alameda County, which neighbors the location of the first confirmed death of COVID-19 in the U.S., the latest to come under fire for their handling of reopening the economy. President Donald Trump pressured governors last month to "liberate" their states.
Tesla also sued the county over the weekend after it told the car maker on May 8 that it didn't meet criteria to reopen. Health officers for Alameda and six other San Francisco Bay area counties and cities decided late last month to extend their restrictions on businesses through the end of May.
Musk tweeted over the weekend that Alameda's refusal to let Tesla reopen the Fremont factory was "the final straw" and that he will move Tesla's headquarters to Nevada or Texas.
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