Tesla CEO Musk restarts California factory amid lockdown

Tuesday, 12 May 2020 09:43

WIN MCNAMEE / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP

Elon Musk has defied official orders and reopened a Tesla factory in California.

The Tesla Inc Chief Executive made the announcement on Twitter while expressing his willingness to be arrested for the move.

"If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me," he wrote, while adding that he would join workers on the assembly line.

Musk had earlier criticised stay-at-home orders introduced by health officials in Alameda County to curb the spread of COVID-19, and has been pushing to reopen the plant.

It comes just days after Musk's attorneys filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against the county's stay-at-home order.

More from International News

One dead, several injured in Iranian attack on Manama building

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said one person was killed and several others injured in an Iranian attack on a residential building in the capital, Manama.
Iran names Mojtaba Khamenei as new supreme leader

Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as supreme leader as the week-old US-Israeli war with Iran pushed oil above $100 a barrel.
Trump says he is 'nowhere near' deciding to send troops to Iran

President Donald Trump said on Monday that he was "nowhere near" deciding whether to send U.S. troops into Iran to secure the stockpile of highly enriched uranium there.
Lebanon parliament extends its own mandate for two years as war intensifies

Lebanon’s parliament extended its own mandate for two years on Monday, a statement from the speaker's office said, pushing back elections that were meant to take place in May of this year.