Who is the Las Vegas Tesla Terrorist?

• Las Vegas police have identified Paul Hyon Kim, their only suspect in the Tesla firebombing last week, as an activist with ties to communist and Palestinian groups
• His social media accounts and website identify him as a filmmaker and cinematographer with few credits
• He moved to Las Vegas from Seattle

Las Vegas police began filling in the blanks about the 36-year-old man they arrested on Wednesday night as their sole suspect in the Tesla firebombing that made international news last week.

Paul Hyon Kim is an activist with “some very loose but self-proclaimed ties to the Communist Party USA social media group, as well as social media groups called Revolutionary Communist International, Hidden Palestine, Palestine Action, and a variety of other social media groups,” according to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren, who led a press conference on the case Thursday afternoon.

“Part of our investigation is to dig further into it and be able to determine additional motive and other potential concerns,” the officer said.

Casino.org‘s parallel investigation reveals that Kim lists himself across Facebook, LinkedIn and his own website as “a freelance cinematographer/videographer” whose experience includes “films, reality TV, live events, documentaries and digital content.”

None of his projects is widely known. They include “Alone in the Dark,” a short film he co-wrote and directed in 2013,  as well as the horror movies “Adversary: The Wicked and the Dead” (2020) and “Adversary: Wanted Dead or Alive” (2023), both of which list him as a cinematographer.

According to his website, paulhyonkim.com, he is also available for weddings.

Kim is suspected of firebombing at least five Teslas parked at a Las Vegas service center shortly before 2:44 a.m. on March 18.

According to Koren, a shotgun, a handgun and ammunition matching the caliber used in the crime were found when a search warrant was executed on his Las Vegas apartment following his arrest on Wednesday evening.

A black gun pouch and a black backpack were also both found to have residue matching the pink spray paint used to spray “RESIST” across the Tesla service center’s front doors.

DNA they swabbed from Kim during his arrest also matched DNA found at the scene of the crime, police said.

Kim is charged with 15 felony and misdemeanor counts, including third-degree arson, property destruction, shooting a gun into a vehicle, and possession of an explosive or flammable device.

He remains under 24/7 surveillance at the Clark County Detention Center.