{"id":131759,"date":"2025-03-29T21:21:45","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T21:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/protests-hit-tesla-dealerships-across-the-world-in-challenge-to-elon-musk-the-guardian\/"},"modified":"2025-03-29T21:21:45","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T21:21:45","slug":"protests-hit-tesla-dealerships-across-the-world-in-challenge-to-elon-musk-the-guardian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/protests-hit-tesla-dealerships-across-the-world-in-challenge-to-elon-musk-the-guardian\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests hit Tesla dealerships across the world in challenge to Elon Musk – The Guardian"},"content":{"rendered":"

From Australia to Europe and the US, demonstrators rallied against carmaker\u2019s dismantling of US federal government
Thousands of people worldwide protested Elon Musk<\/a> and his efforts with Donald Trump to dismantle the US federal government on Saturday, with rallies held in front of nearly every Tesla showroom in the US and many around the world \u2013 a concerted effort to go after the billionaire\u2019s deep pockets as the CEO of the electric vehicle maker.
Protest organizers asked people to do three things: don\u2019t buy a Tesla, sell off Tesla stock and join the \u201cTesla Takedown\u201d movement<\/a>.
\u201cHurting Tesla<\/a> is stopping Musk,\u201d reads one of the group\u2019s taglines. \u201cStopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy.\u201d
On Saturday, with more than 200 events planned worldwide, protests kicked off midday in front of Tesla showrooms in Australia and New Zealand and then rippled across Europe in countries including Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK. Each rally was locally organized with original themes. In Ireland, it was \u201cSmash the Fash\u201d, and Switzerland had \u201cDown with Doge\u201d. Photos posted to Bluesky by Tesla Takedown showed demonstrators in San Jose, California<\/a>, close to where Tesla was previously headquartered, and Austin, Texas<\/a>, where its headquarters are now.
Musk, the world\u2019s richest person, heads the so-called \u201cdepartment of government efficiency\u201d (Doge), which he\u2019s tasked with slashing federal budgets<\/a> in the US, including laying off thousands of workers, though he said in an interview Thursday<\/a>: \u201cAlmost no one has gotten fired.\u201d He\u2019s gone after the Social Security Administration, the Department of Education, the National Park Service and several more departments and agencies, causing widespread backlash and criticism. Musk and Tesla did not return requests for comment.
In San Francisco, a crowd of around 200 people gathered in front of the Tesla showroom. Protesters spilled into the busy street and onto the median, confusing the self-driving Waymos trying to get around people darting back and forth.
A boombox blasted We\u2019re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister and cars drove by honking enthusiastically. Even passing postal trucks, public buses and fire engines honked in support. People propped up signs with slogans like \u201cBurn your swastikar before it burns you\u201d and \u201cNo Doge bags\u201d. Others flew massive American flags mounted upside down.
The block-long Tesla showroom was emptied of all cars, and only a few security guards stood inside, with some San Francisco police outside. At one point, a group of four men wearing red Maga hats and black Doge shirts walked through the crowd, but everything remained calm.
\u201cI\u2019m out here protesting because what I see is a hostile takeover of our country,\u201d said Myra Levy, who was holding a sign that said \u201cPinche Ladr\u00f3n\u201d (\u201cfucking thief\u201d). \u201cThat is not OK for me. That is not OK for all of us.\u201d
Her friend, Karen Heisler, emphatically added: \u201cWe did not vote for this.\u201d
In Berkeley, California, the Tesla showroom has shut down every Saturday for the last month because of the weekly protests, according to salespeople from neighboring retailers. Only security guards have stayed on to guard the building. It\u2019s been the scene of lively demonstrations that have included a mariachi band and a 10-foot cardboard Cybertruck for people to spray-paint. Earlier this month, the showroom\u2019s front door was splattered with red paint. The showroom manager declined to comment.
In New York City, several hundred anti-Tesla protesters gathered outside the EV company\u2019s Manhattan showroom on Saturday. Sophie Shepherd, 23, an organizer with Planet Over Profit, explained that the rally was not about protesting electric cars. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re here to protest Musk, who has essentially held a Tesla car show on the White House lawn,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want to disrupt his business as much as possible, so that includes all Teslas, and not just the Cybertruck.\u201d
Marty, 82, said he was attending the New York City rally \u201cbecause I\u2019m worried about my country\u201d. In the 1960s, he protested the Vietnam war. \u201cNow, it\u2019s the overthrow of our country by oligarchs,\u201d he said. The rally, he went on, was a message to \u201cthis guy Elon who is buying our government\u201d.
On Friday, the New York police department said its officers were searching for two suspects who allegedly carved the word \u201cNazis\u201d and a swastika on the doors of a Tesla Cybertruck in Brooklyn this week, part of an uptick in attacks on Tesla vehicles and facilities<\/a> across the US since Trump took office.
In Washington DC, organizers planned a rally in front of a new Tesla showroom in Georgetown<\/a>, making the theme \u201cTesla Takedown Dance Party\u201d. \u201cDump the meme stock, join dance lines,\u201d read the flyer. \u201cThe stakes couldn\u2019t be higher but that doesn\u2019t mean we can\u2019t have fun!\u201d
\u201cThe hypocrisy is so deep,\u201d said Manissa Maharawal, an assistant professor at American University who has studied anti-tech protests and points out that Tesla has received billions in government funding<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s this company that\u2019s been subsidized in a lot of ways by the government, but now the CEO is trying to dismantle the government because he thinks he knows better than everyone, because he comes from the tech industry.\u201d
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In the US, protests happened in nearly every state, across the north-east, south and midwest through to the west coast. States with the most planned rallies included Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Texas, Washington and California, totaling more than 100. Several protests also took place throughout Canada.
In London, dozens of demonstrators gathered at a Tesla showroom along the three-lane A40 in West London.
\u201cMusk is hugely abhorrent. He is funding the far right, and meaning that any Republicans who speak out end up not being funded in their next election,\u201d said gay rights campaigner Nigel Warner.
\u201cIt\u2019s too overwhelming to do nothing,\u201d said Louise Cobbett-Witten, who has family in the US and was protesting at the Tesla dealership in west London. \u201cThere is real solace in coming together like this. Everyone has to do something. We haven\u2019t got a big strategy besides just standing on the side of the street, holding signs and screaming.\u201d
Tesla Takedown organizers reiterated the need for people to continue to speak out and protest against Musk, Trump and Doge. The stakes are high and \u201cno one is coming to save us\u201d, they say on their website<\/a>.
Maharawal, from American University, said she was struck by that sentiment, saying: \u201cFor there to be a nationwide and global protest saying \u2018no one\u2019s coming to save us\u2019 just speaks to the level of anger and desperation right now.\u201d
Organizers have also been careful to distance themselves from the violent vandalism that has been carried out against Tesla showrooms. Dozens of Tesla facilities have been attacked in the middle of the night<\/a> with molotov cocktails, gunshots or graffiti saying things like \u201cFuck Elon\u201d and \u201cTesla Is Fascist\u201d.
Trump has vowed to designate any violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism.
Tesla Takedown organizers condemn the vandalism. \u201cWe are a non-violent grassroots protest movement,\u201d the group says. \u201cWe oppose violence and destruction of property. Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism.\u201d
Harry Taylor contributed reporting<\/em><\/p>\n

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From Australia to Europe and the US, demonstrators rallied against carmaker\u2019s dismantling of US federal governmentThousands of people worldwide protested Elon Musk and his efforts with Donald Trump to dismantle the US federal government on Saturday, with rallies held in front of nearly every Tesla showroom in the US and many around the world \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":131760,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-131759","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131759","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131759"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131759\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131760"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131759"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131759"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131759"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}