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Elon Musk asks to be arrested as Tesla breaks the law to reopen plant


Outspoken billionaire Elon Musk has suggested he should be the only member of Tesla staff arrested as the company broke local laws to reopen its production plant in Alameda County, California.

Musk tweeted: “Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.”

The tweet has drawn the ire of the Twitterverse, with many reminding Musk that he has a newborn baby at home, and several pointing out that the company’s billionaire owner isn’t offering Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to all staff.

Earlier, Alameda County had advised that Tesla would not be permitted to reopen, going against state lawmakers in California that had green-lit for companies of Tesla's size to go back to work. Musk hit back, stating he planned to move the company's operations out of California to Nevada or Texas. 

This is the latest controversy in a recent quagmire for Tesla, which has reportedly delayed the production of its hyper-performance Tesla Roadster sports car, as well as the Tesla Semi truck.

Musk said on the Joe Rogan podcast that the Roadster now won’t make full-scale production until 2022, after the Semi (due 2021) and the Cybertruck (estimated late 2021) launches.