The most visible of Elon Musk’s companies, Tesla has become the focal point of anti-Musk activism. For weeks, protesters have been holding peaceful demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms around the country. Many of the protests have been affiliated with a grassroots movement called Tesla Takedown, which is attempting to organize over 500 more protests on March 29 as part of a “global day of action.” The group calls for a boycotts of Tesla as well as divestment from the company as a way to oppose Musk’s political activities. It’s just one of the groups that has risen up to organize opposition to Musk through activism against Tesla. In the U.K., at least two anti-Musk groups have been posting guerrilla advertisements in London and other cities calling Musk a Nazi or relabeling Tesla “the swasticar.”
There has also been violence against the demonstrations. On Saturday, outside a Tesla dealership in West Palm Beach, Florida, a man was arrested after driving his SUV into a crowd of anti-Musk protesters.
At the same time, a growing number of Tesla dealerships and charging stations have been targeted with vandalism and arson attacks, including at least 80 reported incidents in the U.S. and Canada. Most of the incidents seem to have been perpetrated at night by lone offenders, according to the FBI. So far, no injuries have been reported.
On March 24, multiple incendiary devices were found at a Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas. On March 4, several Tesla charging stations were set ablaze outside Boston. In Las Vegas on March 17, an unknown assailant used Molotov cocktails to set several vehicles on fire at a Tesla service center; three bullet holes were found in the vehicles as well. There have been multiple attacks on Tesla properties in Oregon in recent months. Eighty Tesla vehicles were scratched or had their tires punctured at a dealership in London, Ontario, on March 18. A dozen vehicles were burned outside a Tesla dealership in Toulouse, France, on March 2. These are just some of reported incidents.
Last week, the Trump administration vowed a crackdown on anyone attacking Tesla properties, describing the incidents as “domestic terrorism.” Musk and other Trump officials have alleged that the attacks are being coordinated, but there is no evidence of that.
