Protesters rally against Elon Musk at Tesla showrooms over the continued U.S. government purge
Updated on: March 29, 2025 / 5:13 PM EDT / CBS/AP
Crowds protesting billionaire Elon Musk's purge of the U.S. government under President Trump began amassing outside Tesla dealerships throughout the U.S. and in some cities in Europe on Saturday in the latest attempt to dent the 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 of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where he's gained access to sensitive data and shuttered entire agencies as he attempts to slash government spending.
Most of Musk's estimated $340 billion fortune consists of the stock he holds in the electric vehicle company that he continues to run while also working alongside Mr. Trump.
Earlier protests have been somewhat sporadic. Saturday marked the first attempt to surround all 277 of the automaker's showrooms and service centers in the U.S. in hopes of deepening a recent decline in the company's sales.
By early afternoon, crowds ranging from a few dozen to hundreds of protesters had flocked to Tesla locations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Minnesota and the automaker's home state of Texas. Pictures posted on social media accounts showed protesters brandishing signs such as "Honk if you hate Elon" and "Fight the billionaire broligarchy."
The Tesla Takedown movement also hoped to rally protestors at more than 230 Tesla locations in other parts of the world. Although the turnouts in Europe weren't as large as the crowds in the U.S., the anti-Musk sentiment was similar.
About two dozen protesters held signs lambasting Musk outside a Tesla dealership in London as passing cars and trucks tooted horns in support.
One of the signs displayed at the London protest showed a photo of Musk next to an image of Adolf Hitler making the Nazi salute — a gesture that Musk has been accused of reprising shortly after Mr. Trump's Jan. 20 inauguration.
A person in a tyrannosaurus rex costume held another sign with a picture of Musk's straight-arm gesture that said, "You thought the Nazis were extinct. Don't buy a Swasticar."
"We just want to get loud, make noise, make people aware of the problems that we're facing," said Cam Whitten, an American who showed up at the London protest.
Tesla Takedown was organized by a group of supporters that included disillusioned owners of the automaker's vehicles, celebrities such as actor John Cusack, and at least one Democratic Party lawmaker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett from Dallas
"I'm going to keep screaming in the halls of Congress. I just need you all to make sure you all keep screaming in the streets," Crockett said during a Tesla Takedown organizing call held earlier this month.
In New York City, mayoral hopeful and New York state Rep. Zohran Mamdani joined protesters at a Tesla showroom on Saturday.
"We are here in a moment that demands all of us," Mandani told the crowd through a megaphone. "It demands all of us because the richest man in the world has purchased the president of the United States."
Some people opposed to Musk have gone beyond protests and set the automaker's vehicles on fire and committed other acts of vandalism that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has decried as "nothing short of domestic terrorism." Musk indicated he was dumbfounded by the attacks during a March 20 company meeting and said the vandals should "stop acting psycho."
Crockett and other Tesla Takedown supporters have been stressing the importance for Saturday's protests to remain peaceful.
But police were investigating a fire that destroyed seven Tesla vehicles in northwestern Germany early Saturday morning. It was wasn't immediately clear if the blaze, which was extinguished by firefighters, was related to the Tesla Takedown protests.
Demonstrators gather outside the Tesla dealership in Reinickendorf, Berlin, joining a wave of coordinated protests against Tesla CEO Elon Musk on March 29, 2025.
The demonstration was part of the "Tesla Takedown" Global Day of Action, which saw similar protests at Tesla showrooms and dealerships across the United States and around the world. Halil Sagirkaya/Anadolu via Getty Image
There have been vandalisms at Tesla dealerships acrossing the U.S., including fires in Nevada and Missouri, and graffiti at locations in Massachusetts and Maryland, CBS News previously reported.
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