Elon Musk’s role in carrying out President Donald Trump’s dirty work has triggered a wave of opposition that is spilling over into protests against his flagship company, Tesla. Over the last week, some people have held demonstrations while others have vandalized Tesla vehicles owned by individual buyers and showrooms — with actions stretching from New York, Colorado, and California, to as far as The Netherlands and Germany.
Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has accessed sensitive government data and cut congressionally mandated funds to agencies. After court orders demanded a halt to some of its actions, Musk and Vice President JD Vance have hinted they may ignore the rulings. Tesla’s hundreds of showrooms, as well as other locations, present a ripe target for venting frustrations about Musk’s political activities.
A group called Rise and Resist organized a February 9th protest outside a Tesla showroom in Manhattan’s meatpacking district, reports amNY. A group of protestors held signs and chanted “stop the coup,” referring to what is widely considered a constitutional crisis.
Earlier in the month, a Michigan State University alum organized the protest of a Tesla recruiting event at the school. And about 50 people expressed similar sentiments at a Tesla location in San Luis Obispo, California. “We’re here because we don’t know what else to do. We can’t stand idly by while our democracy is being destroyed with all kinds of illegal activities,” one person told local station KSBY 6.
Future protests seem to be on their way. A call for broad picketing at every Tesla showroom on February 15th has been spreading this morning on Bluesky, accompanied by the hashtag #TeslaTakeover.
Tesla showrooms and vehicles have also been vandalized. In Loveland, Colorado on Friday, Tesla vehicles at one of the company’s locations were vandalized with “offensive and hateful” graffiti, CBS News reported. The location had apparently been hit twice before, on January 29th and February 2nd. A similar thing happened in January in Redwood City, California, when a person spray painted “Nazi” on the side of a Cybertruck.
In The Netherlands earlier this month, people spray-painted swastikas, “No to Nazis,” and “Fuck off fascist,” outside of a Tesla showroom in The Hague. In Germany, an activist group projected an image of the word “heil,” alongside a photo of Musk’s infamous (supposedly not a) fascist salute from Trump’s inauguration, on Tesla’s factory in Berlin.
Tesla’s reputation is closely tied to Musk’s, and Tesla’s sky-high stock prices are responsible for a large chunk of his wealth. Unsurprisingly, we’ve seen similar Tesla-related protests in the past, such as a June 2024 incident where 34 Cybertrucks were spraypainted with the words “Fuck Elon” in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Consumer sentiments toward Musk have declined as the CEO has spread rightwing conspiracy theories and allied himself with far-right politicians, correlating — alongside other factors — with falling sales for the company.