The demonstrators presented themselves outside a Tesla exhibition hall and a service center in the North Hollywood region in Los Angeles on Saturday March 15, 2025.
Richard Vogel / AP
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Richard Vogel / AP
Tesla’s facilities around the world were the target of protests opposing the influential role of the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, in the Trump administration. This weekend, the organizers who have directed peaceful demonstrations in recent weeks put into scene what they hope to be their biggest day to date.
As part of the “Tesla Takedown” campaign, hundreds of non-violent demonstrations are expected to take place across the United States on Saturday. The organizers call it a “day of global action” with an objective of 500 events worldwide.
For weeks, the organizers of the movement have encouraged people to boycott the manufacturer of electric vehicles by selling their Tesla cars and stocks. According to Tesla Takedown, thousands of basic groups and individuals from around the world lead the decentralized effort.
Tesla’s organizers have said that the movement is fueled by the anger of federal government’s reduction by Musk, and that it aims to strike the billionaire where it hurts – the electric vehicle company which has become its main source of wealth.
Joel Lava, who helped lead Tesla demonstrations to withdrawal from Los Angeles, says that Musk’s work to dismantle government agencies and workforce through the unofficially named Doge initiative is the main motivation factor for members of the movement.
“He is the spearhead of Doge, who directs me the destruction of our country – literally destroying the infrastructure of our country,” said Lava. “Consequently, we directly target its power, which is its richness, which is Tesla.”
Musc critics underline a litany of other grievances, including his attacks on diversity, a gesture he made on the scene of the inauguration day which was largely interpreted as a Nazi salute and his support for the parts of the far right.
Musk and the White House did not respond to the request for NPR comments.
Since the Musk’s political round, Tesla sales have dropped and investors have become worried. But market analysts wonder to what extent the drop in sales and Tesla actions can be pinned over the actions of its CEO. Tesla has lost market share with EV competitors for years. And the course of action has dropped in anticipation of automotive prices. But the recently announced import prices of the Trump administration recently announced on cars made outside the United States could give a welcome boost to the title; Analysts in the automotive industry say that among car manufacturers Tesla will be the least affected by prices.
Part of the anti-MUSC backlash was violent. Tesla vehicles, dealers and charging stations across the United States and Europe have been the target of criminal fires and vandalism. Some have taken swollen crosses with spraying paint on the Tesla sedans and cybertrucks.
Tesla has raised the movement, the organizers say that its participants exercise their right to protest peacefully and that they oppose the violence and the destruction of goods.
But Musk did not make this distinction when he followed Valerie Costa, a community activist who helped organize recent peaceful demonstrations in the Seattle region as part of Tesla withdrawal demonstrations.
Musk, in an article on X earlier this month, accused Costa of “committing crimes”, without testifying or specific allegations. It was after saying that an environmental militant group she had co-founded was supported by ActBlue, a fundraising platform for Democrats.
Costa told NPR that the accusations were false and that Musk supporters later targeted it in direct messages that included threats of physical violence.
“When one of the most powerful people, if not the most powerful in the world, is that you have committed a crime, regardless of the truth,” said Costa.
Tesla has demolished the organizers who say they want to run out in the power of Musk, and it starts with the tarnishing of the Tesla brand.
“Trump only loves (musk) because he is rich,” said Lava, the organizer based in Los Angeles. “If suddenly Musk just becomes another boring and low -end billionaire, Trump also throws it, and that will also show the power we have as people to make the change.”
