Tesla CEO Elon Musk has disclosed unsettling new information about the man behind the deadly March mass shooting in downtown Austin, alleging that the gunman had previously been fired from Tesla after violently attacking a female employee who accidentally stepped on his prayer rug.
The shooter, 53-year-old Ndiaga Diagne, a Senegal-born naturalized American citizen, opened fire outside Bufords Backyard Beer Garden on March 1, 2026, killing three people and injuring 15 others before being shot dead by police. As reported by Gateway Pundit, Musk is now publicly describing an alleged workplace assault inside Teslas Austin manufacturing facility that occurred just three months before the massacre.
During an October 20 interview with biographer Walter Isaacson on The Builders, Musk recounted how Diagne allegedly attacked a female coworker in December 2025. According to Musk, the woman inadvertently stepped onto Diagnes prayer rug while he was praying in a common area of the factory.
Rather than treating the incident as an accident, Diagne allegedly responded with immediate physical aggression. Musk said: We had someone who was working at the Tesla factory in Austin until December of last year. He was fired because he assaulted a woman who stepped on his prayer rug in the factory.
Musk continued: She accidentally stepped on his prayer rug and he assaulted her. Violently assaulted her. The billionaire entrepreneur said Tesla terminated Diagnes employment following the incident, removing him from the facility after the alleged attack.
Then came the horrifying events of March 1, when Diagne returned to public view in the most violent way possible. Musk explained that, months after the alleged assault, the former employee opened fire outside a crowded downtown Austin bar, killing three people in a matter of moments.
He ended his account with a pointed challenge on immigration and public safety that underscores a growing concern on the right about vetting and assimilation. Now, I think we shouldnt let people like that into the country. Do you? Musk asked, framing the tragedy as a failure of immigration policy as well as law enforcement.
Musks description aligns with key elements of a lawsuit filed in March by 65-year-old Tesla employee Lillian Mendoza Brady, who alleges that Diagne violently assaulted her during a company-authorized prayer break on December 4, 2025. According to CBS News, Bradys attorney, Robert Hilliard, said Diagne grabbed the woman and threw her to the ground while praying in a common area at Teslas facility.
The lawsuit accuses Tesla of negligence, claiming the company knew or should have known about Diagnes aggressive tendencies and failed to adequately protect its workers. Brady is seeking more than $1 million in damages, arguing that Teslas management did not act decisively enough to safeguard employees from a man she says had already shown a capacity for violence.
Her attorney said she did not learn the identity of her alleged attacker until she recognized Diagnes photograph in media coverage of the Austin massacre. The Travis County Sheriffs Office confirmed it had investigated the assault allegation but closed the case following Diagnes death, effectively ending any prospect of criminal accountability.
Musks assertion that Diagne was fired for the incident adds a critical new detail to the public record surrounding the case. The lawsuit and contemporary reports document the alleged assault, but the precise circumstances of Diagnes termination have not been independently established beyond Musks account.
On March 1, Diagne drove into Austins entertainment district and opened fire on people gathered outside Bufords Backyard Beer Garden, turning a busy nightlife scene into a war zone. Authorities identified the three victims as: Savitha Shan, 21, a University of Texas student; Ryder Harrington, 19, a Texas Tech University student; and Jorge Pederson, 30, the third victim who later died from his injuries.
Although Musk referred to all three victims as students, publicly available reporting identifies only Shan and Harrington as college students. Diagne was reportedly wearing clothing displaying religious and Iranian imagery, including the words Property of Allah, a detail that immediately raised questions about ideological or religious motivations.
The FBI initially examined whether the attack might be tied to terrorism or foreign influence. However, in its May 7 investigative update, the bureau concluded that Diagne acted alone and found no evidence of outside direction or formal radicalization, instead citing escalating violent behavior and personal grievances involving U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran as contributing factors.
In a March 1 report, Jordan Conradson identified Diagne as the Senegal-born gunman and detailed the religious and Iranian symbols associated with the attack. Days later, Cristina Laila reported on the release of police body-camera footage capturing the harrowing moments when officers confronted and neutralized the gunman.
Gateway Pundit also highlighted Republican Congressman Brandon Gills call for a moratorium on immigration from Islamic countries following the shooting, a policy demand that echoes Musks own question about people like that being allowed into the United States. As more information emerges about Diagnes background, alleged prior violence, and immigration history, conservatives are likely to intensify pressure for stricter vetting, stronger workplace protections, and a more honest national debate about the risks posed when warning signs are ignored in the name of political correctness.
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