Tesla lawsuit target called “horrible human being” by CEO Elon Musk

Enlarge / Tesla's new Model 3 car on display is seen on Friday, January 26, 2018, at the Tesla store in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images)

Martin Tripp, the recently fired Tesla employee the company sued under accusations of "hacking" company systems, told Ars on Thursday morning that he is actually a whistleblower who is trying to reveal internal waste and safety flaws in Tesla batteries.

He also denied to Ars on Thursday that he had made a comment to a friend to "shoot the place up," which prompted a visit by the Storey County Sheriff. The local authorities ultimately determined that there was "no credible threat."

"Absolutely not!" he told Ars. "The ONLY thing I have said to any 'friends' is I sent a link to the CNBC article to five of them and asked if they really thought I was a hacker."

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