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‘TESLA TAKEDOWN’ PROTESTERS PLANNING ‘BIGGEST DAY OF ACTION’
 
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Andrew J. Hawkins

The Verge
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_ Organizers are calling for 500 demonstrations at all 277 Tesla
showrooms, as well as Supercharger stations, on March 29th. _

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Tesla protesters are planning their “biggest day of action” yet,
aiming for 500 demonstrations at Tesla showrooms across the world on
March 29th, organizers said during a mobilizing call Wednesday.

The protests started at a handful of Tesla locations in early
February, and has grown
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of locations across the world
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as more people have come out to demonstrate against CEO Elon Musk’s
dismantling of the federal government. Waving signs and chanting
slogans, the so-called Tesla Takedown protesters have become a
flashpoint for opposition to Musk’s actions to eliminate federal
aid programs
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tens of thousands of government employees
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the head of DOGE
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or the Department of Government Efficiency.

There have also been an uptick in incidents of arson, vandalism, and
violence
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Tesla showrooms that, while unrelated to the protests, have led to
Musk and President Donald Trump labeling them “domestic
terrorism.”
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members of the Trump administration have signaled the protesters could
come under scrutiny as well. Attorney General Pam Bondi promised
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consequences on those involved in these attacks, including those
operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.”

The hour-long call, which included actors, filmmakers, members of
Congress, federal workers, academics, and journalists, tried to steer
clear of Trump’s talk of “terrorism,” keeping the focus on Musk
and the effort to tank the company’s stock price. Tesla’s stock
has lost nearly 40 percent of its value
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the beginning of the year, as poor sales and rising competition in the
US and overseas have fueled growing pessimism about the company’s
future.

“There is no conspiracy, there is no well-funded cabal,” said
actor and filmmaker Alex Winter, who helped promote the protests early
on on BlueSky. “It’s just Elon Musk who has taken Tesla down.”

Alice Hu, executive director of Planet Over Profit, said that
protesters were aiming for 500 events across the world on March 29th,
with demonstrations at all 277 Tesla showrooms in the US, as well as
hundreds more overseas. Protesters should even feel free to
demonstrate at Supercharger stations, she said.

“There is no conspiracy, there is no well-funded cabal.”

“We need to show Elon that he can throw a tantrum online because his
stocks are tanking,” Hu said. “He can get Trump to put on a
humiliating used car show in front of the White House. These wannabe
authoritarians can try to intimidate us from exercising our First
Amendment rights, but they can’t stop us from fighting back.”

Organizers were adamant that their movement was peaceful, often going
out of their way to stress the nonviolent nature of the
demonstrations.

“The things that we’re fighting for, we are fighting for our
country,” Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Tex.) said. “We’re fighting
for democracy. We’re fighting for our freedoms. And when I say
fighting, I’m saying that figuratively. Obviously, everything that I
am promoting is nonviolent.”

With Trump promising domestic terrorism charges for violence against
Tesla, organizers advised that protesters consult attorneys to better
understand the laws in their states. Some states have statutes that
could be used to intimidate protesters, so its worthwhile to know what
you’re up against, said Lauren Regan, executive director and senior
staff attorney at the Civil Liberties Defense Center. She said in her
experience, states are often hesitant to prosecute activists because
there’s a strong likelihood those statutes will be found
unconstitutional.

“Their goal is to just pluck a few individuals out and scare the
rest of us into submission and apathy,” Regan said. “There are
going to be some areas of the country that are very conservative and
are gonna be hard on dissidents or activists, no matter what the
timing.”

The sharp decrease in Tesla’s stock in recent weeks has clearly
invigorated the protests. Several speakers spoke of Tesla’s collapse
as not only possible, but likely. Micah Lee, an investigative
journalist who was among a group of Twitter users to have their
accounts banned by Musk shortly after his acquisition of the social
platform
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said that going after Tesla’s value was a “solid strategy.”

“If we kill the Tesla brand, if we drive down the stock price low
enough, we can force him to sell his stock to pay back the billions of
dollars of debt that he took on to buy Twitter,” Lee said. “This
will drive Tesla’s stock into a death spiral.”

Musk’s status as the richest man in the world is largely thanks to
Tesla’s stock price. He owns 13 percent of the company, making him
the single largest shareholder. As of today, the company is worth $739
billion — down from 1.08 trillion earlier this year, meaning
Musk’s stake is worth about $96 billion. And Tesla’s board of
directors is composed of close friends and relatives, raising concerns
about its independence from the controversial CEO. Several board
members, including chair Robyn Denholm and James Murdoch, have sold
over $100 million in Tesla stock
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recent weeks.

“This will drive Tesla’s stock into a death spiral.”

But it’s not clear that hurting Tesla will actually matter much to
Musk. He remains in Trump’s good graces, and is wielding vast
amounts of control within the federal government. Even if these
protests can seriously affect Tesla, Musk has consolidated so much
political power that, after a certain point, it’s not clear whether
market forces still apply as strongly.

Musk’s love of memes — he recently quipped “I am become
meme” at CPAC
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is a sign that the world’s richest man is living in a different
reality than most people
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which could be an advantage, said Joan Donovan, an assistant professor
of journalism and emerging media studies at Boston University who
studies media manipulation, disinformation, and online political
movements.

“He thinks of himself as this black hat hacker that’s broken into
the government and socially engineered his way into the Treasury and
he’s gonna abscond with all the data, it’s an obvious data
heist,” Donovan said. “But he believes he’s living in a meme,
and so we need to be very clear about what our demands are, about what
our bright lines are, and that we’re not gonna stop until Tesla is
done with Musk.”

In simplest terms, the protesters said they were not backing down.

“Fuck around and find out,” said Keturah Johnson, a veteran and
vice president of AFA-CWA. “Protect trans folks, respect veterans,
fight it to save lives, and let’s take Tesla the fuck down.
Solidarity forever.”

_Andrew J. Hawkins
[[link removed]] is transportation
editor with 10+ years of experience who covers EVs, public
transportation, and aviation. His work has appeared in The New York
Daily News and City & State._

_The Verge is about technology and how it makes us feel. Founded in
2011, we offer our audience everything from breaking news to reviews
to award-winning features and investigations, on our site, in video,
and in podcasts._

_Our original editorial insight was that technology had migrated from
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