Boston-born ‘Tesla Takeover’ protest sparks national movement against Elon Musk

Protestors gathered in front of a Tesla store on Boylston Street Saturday to demonstrate against the political actions of Elon Musk, a movement started by a Bostonian online that gained national traction.

Approximately 30 protesters gathered outside the Tesla store at 888 Boylston St. at 10 a.m. Saturday for “Tesla Takeover,” a protest against Tesla CEO and leader of the new United States Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk, who secured for himself a role at the top of the federal government under the Trump administration.

Inspired by a small protest outside a Tesla charging station in Maine, Joan Donovan, an assistant professor of journalism and emerging media studies at the Boston University College of Communication, made a flyer and promoted the Boston protest on social media. 

“Other people started to join in,” Donovan said. “It’s taken on a life of its own.”

Donovan said others have “taken the baton,” and organized similar protests in their own neighborhoods. Protests similar to “Tesla Takeover” also happened Saturday at Tesla stores in different U.S. cities, including New York, Cincinnati, Berkeley and Pittsburgh.

“Not everybody has a capitol building that they can go rally in front of, but Tesla, by virtue of its prominence, has areas all across the nation and the world that can become sites of protest,” Donovan said.

Donovan said she organized the protest and spoke out against Musk in her “capacity as a U.S. citizen.”

“I’m always on the lookout for little bright spots of resistance,” Donovan said. “I thought that was a novel way to get at some of the root problems that we’re facing right now.”

Donovan said Musk is not behaving how a “special government employee should,” considering his involvement in mass employee layoffs and federal agency shutdowns. 

She said drawing attention to Musk’s conflicts of interest, such as his businesses investigated by agencies he helps close, is also important to garner calls for congressional action against him.

Protesters held up signs with messages saying “Boycott Tesla,” “No one elected Musk” and “Elon Musk is stripping the U.S.A. and selling it for parts.” 

One wrote “Give nothing to Nazis,” referencing Musk appearing to do multiple fascist salutes at President Donald Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration rally.

The crowd recited chants saying they will “stand up, fight back” when issues such as children’s health, weather forecasts, federal employees, transgender individuals, Medicaid and rule of law come “under attack.”

Kevin Deng, a 25-year-old archaeologist, said he participated in the protest due to a “rise in what appears to be oligarchs” taking over the U.S. government. 

“It seems like [Musk is] dismantling institutions faster than we could likely rebuild them, and that really concerns me,” Deng said. “In an age of late-stage capitalism, the best way to communicate our distaste is to hit him in the wallet.”

Another protester, Ankush Bansal, a 48-year-old physician from Florida, said Musk is “dismantling public health agencies left and right” without care for how it impacts employees.

“He has extraordinary power, which nobody granted him,” Bansal said. “The special government employee that Trump supposedly anointed him with is not a real thing.”

June, a 35-year-old archivist, said they were protesting Musk’s “overreach” in the U.S. government despite never being elected. 

“I’m hoping it raises awareness and that many people can see what’s happening,” June said. “I think a lot of this is happening very quickly and behind closed doors.”

Donovan said Musk is “ransacking data throughout the U.S. government,” which is a national security threat. She said the “secrecy” of DOGE is concerning because none of its members are accountants, despite the agency claiming to be conducting auditing efforts.

The shut down of the U.S. Agency for International Development and rescinding of Federal Emergency Management Agency payments are also of increasing concern, Donovan said. 

While she said it may not be connected to DOGE, the U.S. Coast Guard personnel and payroll system was breached Friday, which Donovan also found alarming.

“We’re talking over [1,100] folks, not just a few, which strikes me as a much larger crisis than simply this idea that the greediest man in the world is now in charge of and has access to all of the U.S. confidential information and is gaining more and more by the day,” Donovan said.

Donovan’s goal when organizing Saturday’s protest was “getting the ball rolling,” but she said others are planning for more frequent picket lines, such as “Tesla Tuesdays.”

Bansal said he hopes further efforts against Musk lead to federal action.

“What I hope is that there is enough protests around the country to convince congresspeople and senators on both sides of the aisle to say, ‘This is not okay,’” Bansal said. “Nobody gave Elon Musk the authority to do this, and we need to subpoena him and investigate him and prosecute as necessary.”

Donovan said it’s important for citizens to know they are “not powerless to affect change” despite Musk appearing to be in a position where he is “completely unaccountable” to democratic systems.

She also warned Musk’s political agenda diverts from Trump, and Musk’s grandfather, J. N. Haldeman, was also the head of a movement that aimed to put “technocrats” in charge of federal agencies in Canada.

“People power is increasingly important in moments like these, as we slide into techno-fascism,” Donovan said. “Even if you voted for Trump or were hopeful that Trump’s election would bring down the cost of groceries, now is the time to step in and stand up, because the more time goes by, the harder it is going to be to repair these systems.”