Protesters Unite Against ‘Fascist Elon Musk’ at Tesla Showrooms Across the Country

Protests Erupt Against Elon Musk’s Influence

A movement to strike back against Tesla CEO and “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) leader Elon Musk left social media and took to the streets this weekend. Groups of protesters at Tesla showrooms across the country sported signs with messages like, “Stop the broligarchy,” “Burn a Tesla, save democracy,” and “DOGE is a criminal enterprise,” encouraging potential Tesla buyers to take their money elsewhere. Referred to as the #TeslaTakeover, the protests were organized by a small-but-mighty army of Bluesky users supported by Seattle-based activist group the Troublemakers and direct action The Disruption Project. Many of the events were posted to Action Network, which by Saturday rose to 50 planned protests nationwide, including small town hits and several in California and New York, Washington D.C., Ohio, and even Canada.

Global Backlash Against Elon Musk

Globally, Tesla owners and onlookers have been hitting back at Elon Musk’s quick encroachment into the federal government, spurred on by the wider accusation that the SpaceX owner is associating with alt-right figures. Earlier this year, protests broke out at the German Die Welt Economic Summit, at which Musk was set to virtually appear, following Musk’s decision to back a German far-right political party.

Meanwhile, American leaders are pleading with the courts to curb Musk’s “unconstitutional” scorched earth approach to federal oversight and optimization. On Feb. 13, 14 state attorney generals filed a lawsuit against Musk, challenging the legality of DOGE’s actions and asking for the court to bar Musk from issuing orders to bodies outside of the executive branch or overseeing the disbursement of federal funds. Earlier that week, a group of cybersecurity bodies, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), filed a lawsuit against Musk’s DOGE for having “illegally forced” the Office of Personnel Management and Treasury Department to give up Americans’ sensitive digital information to “unauthorized, untrained personnel.” The lawsuit called it the “largest data breach in U.S. history.”