- Vandalism and protests against Tesla dealerships and cars have skyrocketed over the past 10 days
- The widespread action is apparently in direct response to Elon Musk’s recent political activity
- Incidents include everything from arson to mass protests to reports of gunfire
In the days and weeks following the return of President Donald Trump to the White House and the ascendance of Tesla CEO Elon Musk to its top echelons, news about vandalism targeting Tesla stores continues apace. Following repairs after an arson attack at a Tesla storefront in Oregon, for example, the same location was shot up last week. No injuries were reported, but cops say several showroom windows were destroyed by the gunfire.
Meanwhile, across the country, the owner of a Tesla Cybertruck in Boston adorned in a shiny gold wrap complained to media regarding someone having placed an offensive sticker on his vehicle; the owner, Dr. Kumait Jaroje, said social-media posts about the incident led to him receiving death threats. Not quite the sort of attention someone who wraps their Cybertruck in reflective gold was looking for, if we had to guess.
The writers at fanboy website Teslarati recently reported about vandalism targeting Tesla Superchargers, including an incident in which someone had spray-painted the word ‘Nazi’ plus a swastika on a unit earlier this month.
Meanwhile, a protest movement called
“Tesla Takedown” seems to be gaining traction
; while it started with a few small groups of activists, it appears to have spread to over 60 cities across the globe.
A website for the movement calls for hitting Tesla where it hurts
: suggested actions include selling or trading one’s Tesla if possible, dumping stock, and joining protests.
In San Francisco, an artist was spotted hanging a series of lenticular-style signs outside a Tesla store, festooned with slogans against Donald Trump and Elon Musk. Depending on the viewing angle, these signs would display things like ‘Make Billionaires Even Richer’, ‘Submit Stay Asleep’, plus photos of Trump and Musk.
Short of living under an especially virulent rock, it’s nigh on impossible to not be familiar with the machinations into which Elon Musk is compelling the new American administration in Washington these days.
Even putting aside how his questionable gestures seem to have led to what may be one of the most aggressive protest movements against a specific automaker in decades, the Tesla CEO has politicized his car company in a plethora of different ways—consider the did-they-or-didn’t-they reports of a supposed government contract for nearly a half-billion dollars worth of Cybertrucks. It’ll be curious to see whether any of that changes in light of this widespread action.
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