Tesla Raises $1.8 Billion In Massively Oversubscribed Junk Bond Offering

Tesla busted out with a very oversubscribed bond offering of nearly $1.8 billion last Friday in an expected cash infusion. Announced August 4 and originally slated for just $1.5 billion, the cash infusion consists of eight-year unsecured bonds at 5.3% – according to a SEC filing.

Tesla initially wanted to sell $1.5 billion worth of debt but enlarged the offering because of overwhelming demand, according to IFR, a Thomson Reuters unit. The yield was slightly higher than the 5.25 percent cited at the initial launch.

Cash proceeds will help finance production of Tesla’s Model 3, which it is banking on to hit the mass market bullseye and finally help the company turn a profit. Tesla aims to boost production to 500,000 cars next year, about six times its 2016 output. –MarketsInsider

With $3 billion in cash on hand and a burn rate of $100 million / week according to CFO Deeoak Ahuja, Tesla’s cash injection was expected prior to the Aug. 4 announcement, after spending over $2 billion in the most recent quarter. Most analysts, however, expected an equity raise instead of adding more debt to their existing $7.1 billion load.

“Without the proceeds from the note offering, Tesla’s liquidity position would be stressed,” analysts at Moody’s said, warning of risks to potential investors.

Bond investors will not be looking at whether Tesla’s stock is way up or way down, but rather at whether Tesla is likely to be able to service its debt through the maturity of its bonds. What Tesla is actually doing with its cash flow will come under greater scrutiny. And the source of that cash flow will also be under the microscope.

This means that Tesla’s ability to execute with its core business will be critical. Build cars, sell cars, and do it at a profit. In this context, veering off into semi-trucks and the freight business might look foolish — even self-driving, given the mountain of manufacturing that Tesla has to climb over the next year or two (500,000 deliveries by the end of 2018, a million by 2020), could be interpreted as a story-changer, rather than a move that would reverse Tesla losses and take the company out of recurrent capital-starvation mode. –Business Insider

Tesla plans to make 5,000 of its new Model 3 per week by the end of 2017, eventually ramping to 10,000 / week at it’s Fremont factory – an ambitious target.  One wonders if Moody’s has considered whether or not Tesla would be able to service their new bonds if Federal electric vehicle subsidies disappear?

Electric car sales in Denmark plunged more than 60% year over year – a move attributed to the progressive phasing out of subsidies for electric cars, announced in late 2015.

Tesla, whose sales were skyrocketing at the time, lobbied against the move, with Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk warning during a visit to Copenhagen that sales would be hit.

The new tax regime “completely killed the market,” Laerke Flader, head of the Danish Electric Car Alliance, said in a recent interview. “Price really matters.” –Bloomberg

Will the U.S. government end subsidies for electric vehicles? Maybe, maybe not – but Trump can’t be happy about Elon Musk ditching his economic advisory council after the United States pulled out of the Paris climate accord – so who knows..

Iran’s parliament chanted ‘death to America’ on Sunday following a vote to increase ballistic missile production and boost the number of Revolutionary Guards in response to U.S. sanctions, less than a year after president Obama sent $1.7 billion in Euros, Swiss francs, and other foreign currencies strapped to pallets in exchange for U.S. hostages.

The vote to boost defense spending by US $520 million – less than one 10th of 1 percent of the $600 billion U.S. defense budget, was cast to counter “terrorist and adventurous actions” by the United States in the region, and will also be used to boost the ranks of Revolutionary Guards.

Per Iran’s state-run news agency PressTV:

The measure came after President Donald Trump signed into law a bill passed by US Congress to impose new sanctions on Iran over its missile program in early August.

Washington’s new sanctions violate a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran both “in letter and spirit.” Tehran says its missile program does not breach a UN resolution which endorsed the nuclear deal.

Devising the Sunday motion, the Parliament took great care not to violate the nuclear accord and provide excuses for opposing sides, spokesman for Parliament’s Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy Hossein Naqavi Hosseini said.

In addition to military spending, Iran’s resolution tasks their Foreign, Intel, and Defense agencies with producing a comprehensive strategic plan aimed at countering “U.S. threats and bullying.”

Per RT: 

While the Trump administration acknowledges that Tehran has not violated the nuclear agreement, in July the US still imposed new sanctions on companies and individuals allegedly supporting or involved in the country’s ballistic missile program.

The US and Iranian militaries have also been engaged in confrontations in the Persian Gulf. On August 8, an Iranian drone buzzed a US Navy fighter jet attempting to land on an aircraft carrier in the area. In July, American warships were involved in two incidents, firing warning shots at Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf. Both incidents were blasted by Tehran as “unprofessional and provocative.”

How does Iran really think this is going to go?

Everybody’s got a plan until they get punched in the mouth. –Mike Tyson

After a week of unhealthy clenching amid flared tensions between the United States and North Korea, futures are decidedly back to risk ON after comments over the weekend from CIA director Mike Pompeo, who said there was no “imminent threat’ of nuclear war with North Korea.

Dow futures are currently indicating +100, S&P 500 +13.50 and Nasdaq +33.

Shares in Europe and Asia sprung back to life in overnight trade, with the Stoxx Europe 600 headed for its first gain in four trading sessions, and Japanese equities kicked ass after traders returned from a holiday.

While Eurozone bonds followed Treasuries lower to satisfy insatiable cravings for risk, Bitcoin surged past $4,000, kicking haters down mineshafts.

Here are events to pay attention to this week via Bloomberg

• A crowded U.S. data docket will give some indication of whether second-half GDP will outperform the first half. July retail sales are expected to rise from June, while housing starts and industrial production may be muted.
• On Wednesday, the Federal Open Market Committee will issue minutes from a July policy meeting that may hold clues on the next rate hike. The same day, Euro-area second-quarter GDP data is due.
• Chinese tech titans Tencent and Alibaba are among companies reporting this week. After rising 73 percent in 2017, Alibaba shares trade at a multiple of 64 times earnings. Tencent is trading at 54 times profit after a 64 percent jump.
• Russia’s factory output growth probably dipped to 3.3% in July year-on-year from 3.5% in June. The data is due in the early part of the week.

And here are the main moves in markets:

Stocks

• The Stoxx Europe 600 Index gained 0.8 percent as of 8:02 a.m. in New York, the largest rise in more than a week.
• The MSCI All-Country World Index increased 0.2 percent, the first advance in a week on a closing basis.
• The U.K.’s FTSE 100 Index jumped 0.6 percent, the largest climb in more than a week.
• Germany’s DAX Index gained 1 percent, the biggest rise in more than a week.
• Futures on the S&P 500 Index jumped 0.5 percent, the largest advance in almost four weeks.

Currencies

• The euro dipped 0.2 percent to $1.1798.
• The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index gained 0.2 percent, the largest rise in more than a week.
• The British pound fell 0.3 percent to $1.2972, the weakest in more than a month.

Bonds

• The yield on 10-year Treasuries increased three basis points to 2.22 percent.
• Germany’s 10-year yield rose four basis points to 0.42 percent.
• Britain’s 10-year yield gained three basis points to 1.09 percent.

Commodities

• Gold declined 0.5 percent to $1,282.42 an ounce, the first retreat in a week.
• West Texas Intermediate crude declined 0.6 percent to $48.55 a barrel, the lowest in almost three weeks.

Asia

• Japan’s Topix index finished 1.1 percent lower. South Korea’s Kospi index advanced 0.6 percent. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 Index rose 0.7 percent. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 1.4 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.9 percent.
• The Japanese yen declined 0.4 percent to 109.58 per dollar, the first retreat in a week.

Bitcoin shoryuken’d through $4,000 for the first time on Monday, jumping 15% over Friday’s close to a peak of $4,125.17. The spike was credited to strong Japanese demand for the cryptocurrency amid tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, as well as a successful technology upgrade by Bitcoin to speed up transactions by shifting a portion of transaction data off the main network – a solution termed SegWit2x.

“Bitcoin is benefitting from geopolitical tensions – trading in Japan and Korea has increased significantly over the last few months,” Brian Kelly, a CNBC contributor and head of BKCM, which runs an digital asset strategy, said in an email. –CNBC

The digital currency has quadrupled in 2017 – up 40% in August alone, and has a market value of around $64 billion.

The plan was met with skepticism, with some suggesting the move might ‘break’ bitcoin. Concerned investors in the #1 cryptocurrency even created their own new version of the asset called Bitcoin Cash.

The split grew out of the tension between growing demand for the virtual currency and some of the design features that had fueled that popularity — the decentralized verification procedures that ensured against hacking and government oversight. While this month’s confrontation ended up as little more than a speed bump in bitcoin’s more than 300 percent rally in 2017, concerns remain around the capacity to increase transaction volumes.

“Up until now a lot of people didn’t really believe bitcoin could go any higher until the scaling issue is resolved,” said Arthur Hayes, Hong Kong-based founder of bitcoin exchange BitMEX. “With this actually being implemented on protocol, theoretically the amount of transactions that can be processed at a reasonable speed is going to be much higher, so a lot of people are very bullish about bitcoin now.” –Bloomberg

While Bitcoin’s upgrade to SegWit2x was successful, the cryptocurrency has another hurdle in November, as the ‘block size’ is set to double to 2 megabiyes, while others have argued that the “Bitcoin Cash” spinoff currency has obviated the need for another upgrade.

Enough technobabble nobody here understands – who’s been banking bitcoins in these parts?

pilfered from Bloomberg without remorse

European stocks advanced from a five-month low as investor concerns over a standoff between the U.S. and North Korea eased.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index rose 0.7 percent at 8:17 a.m. in London. Banks led gains, following bond yields higher, while technology shares were also among the best performers. The Stoxx 600 on Friday extended its drop from a May peak to 6.1 percent as U.S. President Donald Trump warned the isolated nation not to follow through with a missile test near Guam, after warning of unleashing “fire and fury” on North Korea earlier in the week.

• Strategists at HSBC Holdings Plc say the probability of a so-called correction for European equities in the second half of the year is rising. The MSCI Europe Index hasn’t had a drop exceeding 10 percent from peak to trough in more than 13 months, the second-longest stretch since the global bull market kicked off in March 2009.
• Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo and national security adviser H.R. McMaster, in Sunday talk show appearances, said there’s no indication war will break out between the U.S. and North Korea.
  • “The fact that we didn’t see an escalation in the rhetoric from either side over the weekend could be enough to trigger a recovery after last week’s risk selloff, and keep the markets focused on the economic fundamentals,” Kathleen Brooks, research director at City Index, wrote in a note.
• The risk-reward for equities remains unattractive, JPMorgan equity strategists including Mislav Matejka and Emmanuel Cau wrote in a note, as earnings momentum is deteriorating and valuations are expensive.
• Among shares active on corporate news, RWE AG rose 3 percent after the utility said full-year profit will be at the upper end of its forecast range as profitability improves at its gas generation business.

Asian Habbenings

Hotline Beijing

Amid escalating tension over North Korea, Chinese President Xi Jinping told U.S. President Donald Trump that all parties involved should keep their cool and steer clear of fighting words, during a phone call on Friday night. Both leaders agreed Kim Jong Un’s regime must stop its provocative behavior, another sign that it’s been getting tougher for Xi to support this naughty neighbor. The U.S. and North Korea have been in regular contact through diplomatic back channels for several months, though without any sign that the regime will dial back its nuclear ambitions. While the latest sanctions will hurt North Korea’s economy, cutting the regime’s access to Chinese fuel would have a much larger effect: disrupting its air force and electricity system. Earlier Friday, Trump said he was considering more economic sanctions, and that a military response could be in the offing should Kim Jong Un make any “overt threat.” But despite the president’s rhetoric, it’s been largely business as usual for the U.S. Defense Department. On Sunday, a pair of top U.S. national security officials said any fears of an imminent nuclear war with North Korea were misguided.

Trade War?

U.S. President Donald Trump is poised to sign an executive memorandum on Monday urging American agencies to consider investigating China’s intellectual property practices — even as he continues to seek more co-operation from his counterpart Xi Jinping on dealing with Kim Jong Un’s regime. The administration has yet to put forward meaningful barriers to U.S.-Chinese trade, as manifold special interests and deep economic linkages make it difficult to effect major change. Trump had previously promised action against foreign powers like China that are “dumping steel” onto the U.S. market; last week, Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said the U.S. would look to impose levies on imports of aluminum foil from the world’s second-largest economy.

Six Straight

Japanese growth, due out at 8:50 a.m. Tokyo time, likely picked up in the second quarter of this year to an annualized pace of 2.5 percent from 1 percent in the first three months of the year. This would mark six consecutive quarters of growth, the nation’s longest such streak since 2006. Economists’ estimates suggest that domestic demand is expected to play a bigger role in driving activity than trade. However, geopolitical developments may have more sway over Japanese assets than growth data, with Japanese officials slated to travel to Washington D.C. this week to discuss security and defense options with U.S. counterparts.

More Data

It’s that time of the month: a deluge of July economic data from China is due out at 11 a.m. Tokyo time, expected to affirm that economic output continues to expand at a steady, relatively robust clip. That’s in line with what early gauges of activity have implied. Retail sales are projected to have risen 10.5 percent over the first seven months of the year relative to the same period in 2016. Both industrial production and fixed asset investment are expected to maintain the same year-to-date rate of annual change posted in June, of 6.9 percent and 8.6 percent, respectively. Other major events on the calendar: a speech from Reserve Bank of Australia Assistant Governor Christopher Kent, second-quarter retail sales from New Zealand, and July inflation data – for wholesale and consumer prices – out of India.

In the latest attack on conservatives by liberal technocrats, journalist Lee Stranahan just had 10 years of work taken down by YouTube because of videos he used in various reports in his previous role as lead investigative journalist for Breitbart news.

From Lee Stranahan via The Gateway Pundit

When I was the lead investigative journalist at Breitbart News, I get a series of stories that exposed the danger of the explosion in Sunni extremism around the world. Part of that exposure included showing scenes from the recruitment videos that groups like Al-Shabaab are using in American cities.

These terrorist recruitment videos are frightening in their bluntness and expose the lie – currently being perpetuated by people like National Security Advisor HR McMaster – that terrorism is somehow an aberration from Islam. The words of the terrorists themselves make it clear that they are the devoutist of the devout and that they see this is a battle against Western civilization.

In order to let people see this for themselves, I used short excerpts from some of these videos in various Breitbart News stories. None of these clips contained graphic violence but simply the terrorists speaking in their own words, in videos that were being distributed on an underground network of terror recruitment operating in the United States.

As a result of posting these frightening clips that challenge the establishment media narrative about the nature of Islam, I was given three “Community Guideline” strikes that have now caused YouTube to remove all of my videos: nearly 1000 videos that I’ve created over the past 10 years.

Despite the fact that the videos exposing the danger of terrorist recruitment were posted for a journalistic purpose, published on one of the most trafficked new sites in the country, and clearly serve the public good by allowing citizens to see the danger they face, they were used as a means to take down all of my videos. My appeal to Google was denied.

This termination is not restricted to my account alone, and follows a long period it of demonitization of thousands of videos by political commentators on YouTube.

I started doing political commentary on YouTube 10 years ago. I owe much of my career to the people I was able to reach through what I saw as the technological democratization of video delivery. To see all of that work gone in the blink of an eye is sobering, especially coming just 36 hours after CNN’s Jake Tapper suggested that the FBI investigated me over my fireMcMaster.com activism.

None of these setbacks, however, will silence me and I’ll simply find other means to bring the truth to people.

Just the latest attack on free speech

Earlier in the year, liberal-run ad vendors began their attack on sites like Breitbart and InfoWars, depriving them of millions of dollars in ad revenue. Then, Twitter began suspending the accounts of conservative pundits such as Milo Yiannopoulos for “hate speech.” Now, YouTube is simply taking channels down which don’t conform to their hyper-PC standards.

The takeaway, in case you’ve been living under a rock: free speech is not welcome on YouTube.

And now what? Content creators with anything remotely referencing radical Islam will either see their channels taken down, or they will delete content which serves as an enormous public body of evidence against terrorism. In other words; YouTube is helping terrorists by hiding the evils of Radical Islam – all in the name of political correctness.

Speaking of ISIS training videos… CNN’s YouTube channel seems to have a bunch. I wonder if they’ll have their account suspended like Lee Stranahan? 

I wonder if YouTube is going to ban CNN's account for this ISIS training video like they did to @stranahan ? https://t.co/KBAGuC5zqR

— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) August 13, 2017

And for anyone worried about content on YouTube which isn’t saved locally, here’s a handy guide to downloading it after it’s been uploaded.

Fox News reporter Doug McKelway was in attendance during yesterday’s deadly events in Charlottesville, VA, where he reported that the police were called off as soon as things started turning violent.

“But when the tear gas started to fly, thrown by protesters, the police themselves began to evacuate then. I asked the guy who was in charge, “Where you going?” He said, “We’re leaving. It’s too dangerous.” They had a chance to nip this thing in the bud and they chose not to.“

People were throwing soda cans filled with cement… 

VA Police Spox Corinne Geller to @dougmckelway on @ANHQDC: describes the earlier violence, people throwing " soda cans with cement in them" pic.twitter.com/C00uwnyGLi

— Pat Ward (@WardDPatrick) August 12, 2017

Of note, “Unite the Right” held a rally which was legally organized with a permit from the city, as it is their first amendment right to do so, and Antifa showed up with cement-filled cans and other weapons with plans to violently protest the event – creating a dangerous atmosphere police did nothing to control.

Stand Down

The ACLU confirmed that Charlottesville police were ordered to stand down, which allowed the KKK and Antifa to meet face to face with no interference.

ACLU confirms that police were given stand-down order. This invited the violence the city used to shut down a court-permitted protest. https://t.co/FQUhcYaIIm

— Robert Barnes (@Barnes_Law) August 12, 2017

#Charlottesville Mayor who wanted electoral college coup against Trump allowed Antifa and KKK to walk right into each other—no police. pic.twitter.com/3LhsBBuZ3U

— Rep. Steven Smith (@RepStevenSmith) August 13, 2017

Some have suggested that the violent atmosphere and lack of police presence was a factor in the decision and ability of 20 year old white supremacist James Alex Fields to drive his 2010 Dodge Challenger into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing 32 year old paralegal Heather Heyer and injuring dozens of others.

Fields is expected in court on Monday at 9AM to face one charge of 2nd degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding, and one count of hit and run – which was filmed from several vantage points, including a drone which happened to be above the scene of the crime.

A drone captured the terrifying moment a car plowed into the crowd in #Charlottesville, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/N9mVUpEPm3

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) August 13, 2017

Mother interviewed

When approached by a pair of individuals at her home, Fields’ mother said she was unaware of what her son had done, and she thought that he was simply going to a Donald Trump rally.

UPDATE: Mugshot released

Booking photo of James Alex Fields, Jr., per @NBC29 pic.twitter.com/6F0Qmk6CFk

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) August 13, 2017

The Washington Post has confirmed that the man taken into custody after ramming a crowd of counter-rally protesters in Charlottesville, VA is 20 year old registered Republican James Alex Fields of Ohio:

The Dodge Challenger is registered to 20-year-old James Alex Fields of Ohio, according to vehicle registration records reviewed by The Washington Post. Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail Superintendent Martin Kumer told The Post that a man with the same name and age was booked Saturday on suspicion of second-degree murder, malicious wounding, failure to stop for an accident involving a death, and hit and run. Kumer said Fields is currently being held without bail.

Records show Fields last lived in Maumee, Ohio, about 15 miles southwest of Toledo.

Angela Taylor, a spokeswoman for UVA Medical Center, said 19 others had been brought to the hospital in the early afternoon after the car crash in a pedestrian mall packed with people, many of them counterprotesters. Five were in critical condition as of Saturday evening. Another 14 people were hurt in street brawls, city officials confirmed.

Earlier, police had evacuated a downtown park as rallygoers and counterprotesters traded blows and hurled bottles and chemical irritants at one another, putting an end to the noon rally before it officially began.

Despite the decision to quash the rally, clashes continued on side streets and throughout the downtown. In the early afternoon, three cars slammed into each other at the pedestrian mall at Water and Fourth Streets, sending bystanders running and screaming.

What we know about Fields: 

James Alex Fields Jr. (born April 26, 1997) is a resident of Maumee, Ohio​. He is registered to vote in Lucas County, Ohio​ and put his party affiliation as Republican.[1]​ In addition, James is registered as the owner of a Gray 2010 Dodge Challenger​ that ran into protesters at the Unite the Right​ rally.[2]​

WaPo names James Alex Fields as suspect, says confirmed by police. #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/ulyfAtNuWG

— ZeroPointNow (@ZeroPointNow) August 13, 2017

Republicans condemn

Per the Washington Examiner:

Multiple Republican senators called the car crash in Charlottesville, Va., that left one dead Saturday an incident of domestic terrorism and at least one criticized President Trump for not doing the same.

Gardner, R-Colo., tweeted Trump should call out what happened and who was responsible by name instead of hiding behind rhetoric that makes the victims seem responsible.

“Praying for those hurt & killed today in Charlottesville. This is nothing short of domestic terrorism & should be named as such,” Gardner tweeted.

“Mr. President – we must call evil by its name. These were white supremacists and this was domestic terrorism.”

Praying for those hurt & killed today in Charlottesville. This is nothing short of domestic terrorism & should be named as such.

— Cory Gardner (@SenCoryGardner) August 12, 2017

What " WhiteNatjonalist" are doing in Charlottesville is homegrown terrorism that can't be tolerated anymore that what Any extremist does

— ChuckGrassley (@ChuckGrassley) August 12, 2017

Very important for the nation to hear @potus describe events in #Charlottesville for what they are, a terror attack by #whitesupremacists

— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) August 12, 2017

We should call evil by its name. My brother didn't give his life fighting Hitler for Nazi ideas to go unchallenged here at home. -OGH

— Senator Hatch Office (@senorrinhatch) August 12, 2017

Update: Two confirmed dead

UPDATE: Virginia State Police say "two confirmed fatalities” after helicopter crash in Charlottesville, Virginia. pic.twitter.com/etUxi5CYRX

— Josh Caplan (@joshdcaplan) August 12, 2017

At least two are feared dead after a helicopter monitoring the ongoing protests in Charlottesville, Virginia crashed and burst into flames.

One witness said that the helicopter stalled before spiraling to the ground out of control.

Via Mirror.co.uk

Witnesses told local media that the Virginia State Police helicopter crashed near a golf course.

Witness Emma Eisner, who captured video of smoke rising into the air, wrote on Twitter: “To everyone asking about the helicopter crash: it basically started stalling, spiraled down to the ground & lost control.”

A police helicopter had been seen earlier in the day circling over the counter-demonstrations in Charlottesville.

The helicopter went down at about 5.30pm local time on the west site of Charlottesville, away from the site of the violent protests.

Earlier in the day, a still unnamed man drove into a crowd of counter-protesters, killing one and injuring 19.

Helicopter crash #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/e9rER6yaMT

— Simon Rader (@Simon_Rader) August 12, 2017

On scene of helicopter crash here outside Charlottesville. pic.twitter.com/kx6e8xfLoe

— Mike Barber (@RTD_MikeBarber) August 12, 2017

Scene near helicopter crash. pic.twitter.com/ySSce96L2r

— Dan Schutte (@schuttedan) August 12, 2017

JUST IN: Initial emergency dispatch audio of reported Virginia State Police helicopter crash in #charlotesville. @ABC7News pic.twitter.com/39zKMyFt14

— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) August 12, 2017

Update: VA Gov. confirms 3 dead – 2 from helicopter, 1 from ramming. 

JUST IN: Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe says there were 3 fatalities in Charlottesville https://t.co/38mcNRk9Np

— NBC News (@NBCNews) August 12, 2017

UPDATE: Charlottesville city says that two deaths were in helicopter crash; one was in crash being investigated as vehicular homicide

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) August 12, 2017

A man driving a 2010 Dodge Challenger rammed into a group of liberal counter-protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, VA, Saturday afternoon – killing one and injuring 19. After plowing into the crowd, the car reversed and rapidly sped away.

The driver has been apprehended by police and his identity has not been released.

Police say the car was covered in dents prior to the incident, according to journalist Taylor Lorenz of Mic, adding  “If you watch the earlier part of my stream you can see anti-right wing chasing after a Lexus and throwing rocks, bottles, a shoe. This car was not the one that mowed people down. That was a differ grey car.”

While early reports said that the driver was afraid and trying to flee the mob, footage shows the car purposefully accelerating into the crowd from a distance.

Video of the incident (photos at bottom)

VIDEO: Car slams into group of people during protests in Charlottesville, Virginia; reports of serious injuries (Vid: Rebelutionary_Z) pic.twitter.com/Gf5qMf64u9

— BNO News (@BNONews) August 12, 2017

#BREAKING: I just watched a car plow through dozens of protesters. Extremely heavy injuries #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/rE8DWUmrfD

— Alex Rubinstein (@RealAlexRubi) August 12, 2017

Another angle of the car running over protestors in #Charlottesville. This has no place in America! pic.twitter.com/YFM9KAGu1g

— Newt-Trump Fan Club (@NewtTrump) August 12, 2017

The moment when a vehicle hits anti- alt right activists in #charlottesville. It is a hit and run. The vehicle quickly leaves the scene pic.twitter.com/cW7K6N51gc

— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) August 12, 2017

The driver was taken into police custody right after the incident. Police say the car was covered in dents prior and apparently hit by a bat

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) August 12, 2017

I'm at the police station now interviewing officers and other witnesses. Every witness here claims the act was deliberate

— Taylor Lorenz (@TaylorLorenz) August 12, 2017

Driver arrested

@cnn driver has been arrested. #Charlottesville pic.twitter.com/Rl5jSp8bW2

— Nick (@nicholasgraffis) August 12, 2017

President Trump condemns and Jeff Sessions issues a statement

"We condemn in the possible strongest terms this display of hatred, bigotry and violence," Pres. Trump says. https://t.co/tZfyR3BB6h pic.twitter.com/ZqWGyNR8Mu

— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 12, 2017

Sessions:

“I have been in contact with our Department of Justice agents assisting at the scene and state officials. We will continue to support our state and local officers on the ground in any way possible. We stand united behind the president in condemning the violence in Charlottesville and any message of hate and intolerance. This kind of violence is totally contrary to American values and can never be tolerated. I want to thank all law enforcement personnel in the area for their commitment to protecting this community and the rule of law.”

Photos of the scene