Anti-Musk protests organized at dozens of Tesla showrooms

A movement to strike back against Tesla CEO and “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) leader Elon Musk left social media and took to the streets this weekend. Groups of protesters at Tesla showrooms across the country sported signs with messages like, “Stop the broligarchy,” “Burn a Tesla, save democracy,” and “DOGE is a criminal enterprise,” encouraging potential Tesla buyers to take their money elsewhere.

Referred to as the #TeslaTakeover, the protests were organized by a small-but-mighty army of Bluesky users supported by Seattle-based activist group the Troublemakers and direct action The Disruption Project. Many of the events were posted to Action Network, which by Saturday rose to 50 planned protests nationwide, including small town hits and several in California and New York, Washington D.C., Ohio, and even Canada. “Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines. Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk. Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy,” the page reads. The #TeslaTakeover events, set for Feb. 15, generated rallies of varying sizes — from handfuls of protesters to large crowds of dozens of people chanting and parading signs — all with the same message: Musk is doing something categorically wrong.

“This isn’t just about voicing our anger at Elon Musk’s unelected takeover, it’s about letting our friends and neighbors know that buying, owning, charging, and servicing a Tesla directly supports him,” wrote one Bluesky user, whose post was reshared dozens of times. “Taking down Tesla’s sales and stock price is our best way of hitting back. That starts tomorrow!”