Tesla Protests Are Popping Up Across the US

Tesla are facing a growing backlash. Their facilities across the US are facing protests and vandalism in response to the political role, the automaker's CEO Elon Musk (right) has played in the US administration under Donald Trump. 

Most "Tesla Takedown" protests have been peaceful, but a few have been destructive with fires intentionally set at Tesla showrooms and charging stations in Colorado and Massachusetts last week. That was followed by six arrests in New York over the weekend when hundreds of protesters occupied a Tesla showroom. 

There has also been a spike in Cybertruck vandalism across the US, and some car owners are defacing their own Teslas in protest of Musk. One woman showed up to a protest outside a Burbank Tesla on Sunday with an expletive and Musk's name scrawled in chalk across her white Model X sedan. Another car carried an "Anti Elon Tesla Club" sticker. 

The protests illustrate a growing unease over Musk's influence on the US government since President Donald Trump allowed him to create the cost-cutting task force Department of Government Efficiency. So far, DOGE have fired or offered buyouts to about 100,000 federal employees and gained access to the sensitive personal and financial information of millions of Americans. 

Critics have resorted to calling the tech billionaire "President Musk", arguing that he has too much power in the White House. Some at the protest in Burbank, California held signs that said "Deport Elon" and "Boycott Swasticar" – with protesters attempting to connect the car to fascism.