Crowds protesting billionaire Elon Musk’s purge of the U.S. authorities beneath President Trump started amassing exterior Tesla dealerships all through the U.S. and in some cities in Europe on Saturday within the newest try and dent the fortune of the world’s richest man.
The protesters are attempting to escalate a motion focusing on Tesla dealerships and autos in opposition to Musk’s position as the top of the newly created Department of of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, the place he is gained entry to delicate knowledge and shuttered total companies as he makes an attempt to slash authorities spending. Most of Musk’s estimated $340 billion fortune consists of the inventory he holds within the electrical automobile firm that he continues to run whereas additionally working alongside Mr. Trump.
Earlier protests have been considerably sporadic. Saturday marked the primary try and encompass all 277 of the automaker’s showrooms and repair facilities within the U.S. in hopes of deepening a recent decline in the company’s sales.
By early afternoon, crowds starting from just a few dozen to a whole bunch of protesters had flocked to Tesla places in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Minnesota and the automaker’s dwelling state of Texas. Footage posted on social media accounts confirmed protesters brandishing indicators equivalent to “Honk if you hate Elon” and “Fight the billionaire broligarchy.”
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The Tesla Takedown motion additionally hoped to rally protestors at greater than 230 Tesla places in different components of the world. Though the turnouts in Europe weren’t as massive because the crowds within the U.S., the anti-Musk sentiment was comparable.
About two dozen protesters held indicators lambasting Musk exterior a Tesla dealership in London as passing automobiles and vans tooted horns in assist.
One of many indicators displayed on the London protest confirmed a photograph of Musk subsequent to a picture of Adolf Hitler making the Nazi salute — a gesture that Musk has been accused of reprising shortly after Mr. Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration. An individual in a tyrannosaurus rex costume held one other signal with an image of Musk’s straight-arm gesture that mentioned, “You thought the Nazis have been extinct. Do not buy a Swasticar.”
“We simply wish to get loud, make noise, make folks conscious of the issues that we’re going through,” mentioned Cam Whitten, an American who confirmed up on the London protest.
Tesla Takedown was organized by a gaggle of supporters that included disillusioned house owners of the automaker’s autos, celebrities equivalent to actor John Cusack, and a minimum of one Democratic Get together lawmaker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett from Dallas.
“I will maintain screaming within the halls of Congress. I simply want you all to be sure you all maintain screaming within the streets,” Crockett mentioned throughout a Tesla Takedown organizing call held earlier this month.
In New York Metropolis, mayoral hopeful and New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani joined protesters at a Tesla showroom on Saturday.
“We’re right here in a second that calls for all of us,” Mandani told the crowd by a megaphone. “It calls for all of us as a result of the richest man on this planet has bought the president of the US.”
Some folks against Musk have gone beyond protests and set the automaker’s autos on hearth and dedicated other acts of vandalism that U.S. Lawyer Normal Pam Bondi has decried as “nothing in need of home terrorism.” Musk indicated he was dumbfounded by the assaults throughout a March 20 firm assembly and mentioned the vandals ought to “cease performing psycho.”
Crockett and different Tesla Takedown supporters have been stressing the significance for Saturday’s protests to stay peaceable.
However police have been investigating a fireplace that destroyed seven Tesla autos in northwestern Germany early Saturday morning. It was wasn’t instantly clear if the blaze, which was extinguished by firefighters, was associated to the Tesla Takedown protests.
Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu by way of Getty Photos
There have been vandalisms at Tesla dealerships acrossing the U.S., together with fires in Nevada and Missouri, and graffiti at places in Massachusetts and Maryland, CBS Information beforehand reported.
Since January 2025, incidents focusing on Tesla EVs have occurred in a minimum of 9 states, in accordance with a joint intelligence bulletin issued by the Division of Homeland Safety and FBI and obtained by CBS News. Though U.S. intelligence suggests lone actors are behind them, Trump administration officers are promising to crack down on what they are saying are coordinated assaults.
There have additionally been stories of vandalism to parked Teslas, making particular person house owners nervous.
“My spouse cautions me, ‘Watch out the place you’re at with it,'” Bill Fonte told CBS New York. “Should you do not just like the product, do not buy it. However they are going above and past, creating panic and concern for regular folks like me.”
A rising variety of shoppers who purchased Tesla autos earlier than Musk took over DOGE have been trying to promote or commerce of their automobiles whereas others have slapped on bumper stickers searching for to distance themselves from the billionaire’s efforts to prune or shut down authorities companies.
However Musk did not seem involved about an prolonged hunch in gross sales of recent Tesla automobiles in his March 20 deal with to staff. He reassured the employees that the corporate’s Mannequin Y, which is present process a refresh, would stay “the best-selling automobile on Earth once more this 12 months.” He additionally predicted Tesla could have bought greater than 10 million automobiles worldwide by subsequent 12 months, up from about 7 million automobiles now.
“There are occasions when there are rocky moments, the place there’s stormy climate, however what I’m right here to inform you is that the long run is extremely brilliant and thrilling,” Musk mentioned.
After Mr. Trump was elected final November, buyers initially noticed Musk’s alliance with the president as a constructive growth for Tesla and its long-running efforts to launch a network of self-driving cars.
That optimism helped carry Tesla’s inventory by 70% within the interval between Mr. Trump’s Nov. 5 election and his Jan. 20 inauguration, creating a further $560 billion in shareholder wealth. However nearly all these positive aspects have evaporated amid investor worries concerning the Tesla backlash, lagging gross sales within the U.S., Europe and China, and Musk spending time overseeing DOGE.
“This continues to be a second of reality for Musk to navigate this model twister disaster second and get onto the opposite aspect of this darkish chapter for Tesla,” Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives mentioned in a analysis observe main as much as Saturday’s protests.
