{"id":22009,"date":"2025-06-02T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cybertrucks-elicit-strong-reactions-but-durango-owners-stand-firm\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:10:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:10:22","slug":"cybertrucks-elicit-strong-reactions-but-durango-owners-stand-firm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cybertrucks-elicit-strong-reactions-but-durango-owners-stand-firm\/","title":{"rendered":"Cybertrucks elicit strong reactions, but Durango owners stand firm"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Jeremy
Jeremy Barker stands on his Tesla Cybertruck on May 14 in Durango. Barker said he has been given the thumbs-up, been flipped off and received the Nazi salute while driving around town. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The Cybertruck \u2013 an angular, stainless steel vehicle that looks like it belongs in the props department for a futuristic film set in a technocratic utopia \u2013 elicits a wide range of reactions.<\/p>\n

In Durango, Cybertruck owners say they\u2019ve experienced it all.<\/p>\n

\u201cI get flipped off on a regular basis,\u201d said Ted Hermesman, who has owned his Cybertruck for about a year.<\/p>\n

Although reactions are often negative, Hermesman and other local owners say they have no plans to stop driving their trucks. For them, the Cybertruck is a feat of engineering \u2013 not the political statement many outside observers believe it to be.<\/p>\n

\"Ted
Ted Hermesman said he gets flipped off on a regular basis while driving his Tesla Cybertruck around Durango. \u201cIf people are, you know, dumb enough and stupid enough to do that kind of stuff, it just shows you what their IQ capabilities are,\u201d he said. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cIf people are, you know, dumb enough and stupid enough to do that kind of stuff, it just shows you what their IQ capabilities are,\u201d he said of the harassment.<\/p>\n

Since purchasing the vehicle about a year ago \u2013 although he prefers people call it a robot \u2013 Jeremy Barker said he has been given the thumbs-up, been flipped off and received the Nazi salute while driving around town and the surrounding area.<\/p>\n

People have even written offensive words into the thin layer of dust on the side of his vehicle.<\/p>\n

At the Burning Man festival, Barker said he returned to his robot to find the word \u201c(feminine hygiene product) canoe,\u201d etched onto its hood.<\/p>\n

After a lunch outing with his 9-year-old son in Durango, the two returned to the vehicle to find \u201cNazi\u201d scrawled on the side.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (my son) sees this place where somebody had written with their finger \u2018Nazi\u2019 on the side of my car, on my truck, and I see his face go from happy to just like worry,\u201d Barker said. \u201cAnd I know it\u2019s a simple, maybe small thing, but when you see a child who has something that they love and when you see someone do something to that, and you see what it squishes \u2013 that is heartbreaking. And that was the day I taught my son what a Nazi was.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ted
Ted Hermesman has owned his Cybertruck for about a year. He receives mixed reactions from people who see the truck on the road. (Jerry McBride\/ Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

James Dempsey, another Durango-area Cybertruck owner, emphasized that the truck is not about politics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not a hateful person. I have a family. I\u2019m friendly, and I actually enjoy showing people \u2013 especially those who doubt it or dislike it \u2013 the interior, how it works and what it can do,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re just normal people, like anybody else. I think some folks assume Cybertruck owners are rich. I\u2019m definitely not rich. I just decided this was the car I wanted, and it fit what I needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cybertruck is a product of Tesla, the electric vehicle and clean energy company founded by Elon Musk, who has become a polarizing figure in recent years.<\/p>\n

Musk aligned himself with President Donald Trump during the 2024 election cycle and emerged as a key figure in the campaign. Until recently, he led the Department of Government Efficiency, the controversial federal organization tasked with slashing government spending and eliminating waste.<\/p>\n

As Musk\u2019s public profile has grown more political, so has the symbolism attached to his vehicles. On the road, Teslas are viewed as signaling support for the current administration or as a canvas for people to project their own political beliefs onto.<\/p>\n

A Cybertruck packed with explosives was detonated<\/a> outside a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. In Kansas City, four Cybertrucks were set on fire<\/a> at a Tesla dealership. And there have been countless reports of vandalized Tesla cars, defaced with swastikas and other hate symbols.<\/p>\n

\"Jeremy
Jeremy Barker watches his Tesla Cybertruck lift, increasing the ground clearance by 16 inches. He is impressed with the capabilities of his truck, yet he has had to deal with people writing offensive words into the thin layer of dust on the side of his vehicle. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

But that hasn\u2019t deterred Barker or Hermesman from driving and enjoying their trucks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese things are just better in every way. Yeah, they break the idea of what people think a truck is supposed to be, but what these are capable of doing \u2013 it\u2019s just a different game,\u201d Barker said.<\/p>\n

Cybertrucks have full self-driving capabilities, regenerative braking that generates energy to charge the battery, and a function that automatically lifts the truck for off-roading. When fully charged, the vehicle can power a home for about three days, Barker said.<\/p>\n

Additionally, it has high-resolution cameras that capture a 360-degree view of the truck\u2019s surroundings \u2013 and anyone who decides to vandalize it.<\/p>\n

Barker admitted that when he finally got his hands on the vehicle after a three-year wait, he was somewhat excited to see how people would react.<\/p>\n

\u201c(I was thinking) I can\u2019t wait for somebody to come along and mess with me. I could use the finances. If a person wants to be that dumb, that\u2019s like throwing money at me,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s just sort of the silver lining.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dempsey, while he shares Barker\u2019s and Hermesman\u2019s appreciation for the truck, has taken a slightly different approach.<\/p>\n

\"Jeremy
Jeremy Barker inside his Tesla Cybertruck. Barker didn\u2019t buy the vehicle with any political ideologies in mind, but he admits he was excited to see how people would react to seeing the vehicle on Durango roads. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cI absolutely love the car. It\u2019s super fun to drive, and I like weird, different things,\u201d he said. \u201cBut as far as hate \u2013 from Day One, I would get middle fingers, thumbs-down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The frequency of those interactions increased in the months after the presidential election, Dempsey said.<\/p>\n

In March, while visiting Albuquerque, he saw a Tesla dealership that had been heavily vandalized. Several Cybertrucks appeared to have been damaged by explosions or fire.<\/p>\n

Soon after, Dempsey and his partner decided to stop driving the truck with their kids in it, in case the vehicle was targeted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids love to ride in it and they love being in it. But I don\u2019t want to put them in danger because of some person who was a little overzealous about their opinions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Dempsey also owns Wagon Wheel Liquor. For a while, he drove the Cybertruck to work, parking it out front. But in the months after the election, he decided to stop, in case it was turning away customers.<\/p>\n

\"Jeremy
Jeremy Barker is seen with his Tesla Cybertruck on May 14 in Durango. Barker says he has video from the built-in cameras showing people writing \u201cNazi\u201d in the dust on the side of his truck. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

For him, it\u2019s not a political statement \u2013 it\u2019s just a cool car \u2013 but Dempsey is aware of what it may unintentionally signal to others.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a fair amount of people in this town that don\u2019t like Donald Trump and don\u2019t like Elon Musk,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But at the end of the day, Barker, Dempsey and Hermesman agree: They didn\u2019t buy the Cybertruck to make a political statement \u2013 they just really like what it can do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt had nothing to do with politics,\u201d Hermesman said. \u201cI bought it strictly because I thought it would work with the lifestyle that I had.\u201d<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drivers report middle fingers, vandalism and Nazi salutes, but say the trucks are about tech, not politics <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1357,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-22009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-contests","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77543,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22009\/revisions\/77543"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22009"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=22009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}