Demonstrators descended on Tesla Inc dealerships across the US, and in Europe and Canada on Saturday to protest company chief Elon Musk, who has amassed extraordinary power as a top adviser to US President Donald Trump.
Waving signs with messages such as “Musk is stealing our money” and “Reclaim our country,” the protests largely took place peacefully following fiery episodes of vandalism on Tesla vehicles, dealerships and other facilities in recent weeks that US officials have denounced as terrorism.
Hundreds rallied on Saturday outside the Tesla dealership in Manhattan.
Photo: Getty Images via AFP
Some blasted Musk, the world’s richest man, while others demanded the shuttering of his so-called Department of Government Efficiency, which is dramatically slashing the US federal government.
Amy Neifeld, a 70-year-old psychologist who had not joined a protest since marching against the Vietnam War in the 1970s, said Musk was leading the country toward fascism.
“I’m Jewish, so I grew up with a great awareness of fascism,” she said. “And it has just gotten uglier and uglier” since Trump returned to the White House.
The protest was organized by the environmental activist group Planet Over Profit, which said “stopping Musk will help save lives and protect our democracy.”
In Washington’s posh Georgetown neighborhood, about 150 people gathered in a festive mood on an unseasonably warm day, dancing and cheering as passing cars honked.
Protests also took place in Florida, Massachusetts and California, as well as in European cities such as London, Berlin and Paris.
In Vancouver, where about 100 people protested at a Tesla dealership, one person in a dinosaur costume held a placard that said: “You thought the Nazis were extinct? Don’t buy a Swasticar.”
A small group of Americans held signs outside a Tesla dealership in the French capital, including one that read “Send Musk to Mars now.”
Musk and Trump “are destroying our democracy, not obeying the basic rules of our country and firing people at agencies that do very important work,” said Raf, 59, a Paris protester who did not wish to give his last name.
European sales of Tesla electric cars dropped 49 percent in January to February compared with the same period a year earlier, the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) said on Tuesday last week.
Aging models are one factor behind the plunge so far this year, but electric vehicle clients might also be refusing to buy in protest against Musk since he became a key supporter of Trump.
New Tesla registrations in the EU fell to 19,046 in the first two months of the year, giving the company a market share of just 1.1 percent.
Last month alone, Tesla registrations were down 47 percent at 11,743, the ACEA said.
The sales drop came even as overall electric vehicle sales jumped 28.4 percent over the first two months to 255,489 — for an EU market share of 15.2 percent.
Asked for reaction to the protests, Tesla did not immediately respond.
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