Crowds protesting billionaire Elon Musk’s purge of the US government under President Donald Trump have been congregating outside Tesla dealerships throughout the US, and in some cities in Europe, in the latest attempt to put a dent in the enormous fortune of the world’s richest man.
The protesters are trying to escalate a movement targeting Tesla dealerships and vehicles in opposition to Musk’s role as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where he’s gained access to sensitive data and shut down entire agencies as he attempts to slash government spending.
Most of Musk’s estimated $340bn fortune consists of the stock he holds in the electric vehicle company that he continues to run while also working alongside Trump.
Tesla Takedown has been organised by a group that includes disillusioned owners of the carmaker’s vehicles, celebrities such as actor John Cusack, and at least one Democratic Party lawmaker, Representative Jasmine Crockett from Dallas.
Earlier protests were somewhat sporadic.
But Saturday’s demonstrations mark the first attempt to surround all 277 of the carmaker’s showrooms and service centres in the US in hopes of deepening a recent decline in the company’s sales.
In front of the New York store in Manhattan, between 500 and 1,000 people gathered, demanding Musk’s resignation from government.
The protesters were gathered at the call of environmentalists from Planet Over Profit, who believe that “stopping Musk will save lives and protect our democracy.”
For Amy Neifeld, a 70-year-old American psychologist who had not taken to the streets since the anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1970s, Elon Musk is leading the United States towards “fascism”.
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