The Minnesota state employee who went on a deranged vandalism spree against six Teslas, causing over $20,000 in damage because he “hates Elon Musk,” has now been rewarded with a promotion and a pay raise.
In Minnesota, destroying private property out of political hatred for a Trump-supporting billionaire doesn’t get you fired. It gets you a bump up the ladder and more of your neighbors’ tax dollars in your pocket.
Dylan Bryan Adams, a fiscal policy analyst with the Minnesota Department of Human Services under Governor Tim Walz, was caught on camera keying Teslas across the Twin Cities in early 2025. Police identified him quickly.
The damage totaled upwards of $21,000. He admitted to investigators that his little crime spree was motivated by his seething hatred for Elon Musk.
🚨 BREAKING: The man seen vandalizing a Tesla has been ID’d as 33-year-old Dylan Bryan Adams.
He’s accused of causing $20K+ in damages across the Twin Cities.
The kicker: Adams works as a Fiscal Policy Analyst for the State of Minnesota. Someone took Tim Walz’s words to heart. pic.twitter.com/YYco1jcKpe
— Dustin Grage (@GrageDustin) April 18, 2025
Despite the multiple victims and the significant property damage, Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty declined to file criminal charges. Instead, Adams was offered a diversion program intended for certain first-time offenders, a decision that even Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara publicly criticized.
The Minneapolis Police Department blasted the HCAO in a statement to Fox 9:
“The Minneapolis Police Department did its job. It identified and investigated a crime trend, identified, and arrested a suspect, and presented a case file to the Hennepin County Attorney Office for consideration of charges. This case impacted at least six different victims and totaled over $20,000 in damages. Any frustration related to the charging decision of the Hennepin County Attorney should be directed solely at her office. Our investigators are always frustrated when the cases they poured their hearts into are declined. In my experience, the victims in these cases often feel the same.”
The Gateway Pundit also reported that Moriarty faced accusations of selective prosecution after her office charged a 19-year-old woman with a felony for allegedly keying a single vehicle while allowing Adams to avoid criminal prosecution altogether.
Now, according to newly reported state employment records, Adams’ punishment amounted to just a one-day suspension. Even more astonishing, he has reportedly since received a promotion and a salary increase.
The Daily Mail reported:
A DHS spokesperson told the Daily Mail that Adams’s vandalism last year ‘seriously undermined public trust and violated our code of ethics.’ He was reprimanded by being ‘suspended for one day without pay,’ the spokesperson added.
[…]
Now, Adams has not only kept his job but received a promotion last month, working ‘in a temporary assignment as the supervisor of the Disability Services Division’s Fiscal Policy Team,’ a DHS spokesperson confirmed to the Daily Mail.
The spokesperson also said the new position ‘did include a change in compensation.’ As a state employee, Adams’s salary is public information, and according to the most recently available records reviewed by the Daily Mail, he made about $93,000 in fiscal year 2025.
The Minnesota DHS spokesperson told the Daily Mail Adams was earning $48.60 per hour in his previous role and is now making $52.18 per hour. The spokesperson did not say how long he might hold the ‘temporary assignment.’
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