The organizers of “Tesla Takedown” have promised their largest global action day today, encouraging thousands to protest outside the Tesla exhibition room, trade, and even loading stations to peacefully oppose the role of Elon Musk in reducing government spending.
While Tesla’s protests have spread, so does the reaction. Activists holding signs are joining masked vandals by throwing Molotov cocktails. On social media and in Washington, the difference is fading quickly.
President Donald Trump has called attacks on Tesla “Internal Terrorism” and threatened to send “terrorist thugs” to prisons in El Salvador. US Prosecutor General Pam Bondi has pledged to prosecute “those acting behind scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes”, although evidence suggests that the attacks were carried out by “single offenders”. And Musk’s decision to accuse at least one peaceful protester of “committing crimes” on X has prompted a public discourse that equates the protest with vandalism and vandalism with terrorism.
If the government or law enforcement begins to address all anti-tetles as criminal protesters, peaceful can be found facing consequences intended for extremists.
“Terrorism is a problematic concept in law enforcement because it is with definition differentiated from other political violence,” Techcrunch Mike German, a former FBI special agent in Brennan Center’s national freedom and national security program. “That is why we have seen anti -terrorism measures so often result in problematic results aimed at the civil rights of people engaged in the activity protected by the first change than the people who are committing acts of violence.”
Tesla Takedown protesters have repeatedly preached non -violence in rallies and their website. The declared purpose of the movement is not to physically damage Tesla or Musk, but rather to encourage people to sell their teslas, sell their shares, and stop the purchase of new Teslas.
“The reason that Musk is in the position in which he is because of his wealth, and we think that if we can continue to run the price of Tesla below, we will hit him in the right place,” Natasha Purdum, a New Jersey -based organizer, told Techcrunch. “After all, we see how a key to removing some of the main destruction that is taking place in our federal government, the courtesy of Doge and Elon Musk.”
Musk is the richest person in the world for the most part because of his shares Tesla. He owns approximately 13% of the company, which today is valued at about $ 829 billion, making Musk worth about $ 107.8 billion. This wealth has allowed Musk to spend $ 44 billion to buy Twitter, the main platform he uses to communicate with his 219 million followers. Musk has also plunged into its funds to donate more than $ 260 million to America’s PAC that helped Trump control the elections.
As someone who spent 16 years as a special FBI agent focused on internal terrorism, German says he would not be surprised to see the hand of the local police work on the handle with the Task Forces – like the one FBI just formed – to monitor Tesla Takedown protests. According to the Prosecutor General’s instructions, the FBI does not require a factual basis for a doubt of terrorism to begin performing physical supervision, which includes taking photos of people, cars and license plates, placing informants to penetrate a group, access to private databases and more.
“Also important to understand that law enforcement in the United States is primarily intended to protect the property of the rich,” German said. “Corporations in the United States are politically powerful and have access to elected officials and senior law enforcement officials. And when their interests are challenged, especially by protests, they want to present it as a matter of law enforcement, rather than legal public concerns about their corporate activities.”
The FBI declined to comment on Techcrunch if the agency is taking any special action this weekend.
“We will go after them”
Musk and the Trump administration have increased their rhetoric in the lead until March 29, when at least 213 Tesla Takedown protests are planned worldwide, from Colorado and Kentucky to Germany, Minnesota, France and Texas.
On Thursday, Musk appeared in Fox News’s “special report” to say he and Trump will “go after … those who give money, those who push lies and propaganda.”
Trump has suggested that attacks on Tesla property were coordinated to intimidate Musk, despite the fact that internal estimates are found differently. Musk has also claimed, without showing evidence, that some organizers of Tesla Takedown were funded by Actblu, a non -profit that finances progressive causes and Democratic candidates.
And Bondi has accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) for “call for further uprising” after Crockett said musk had to “deal” in a virtual Tesla takedown gathering last week. Crockett linked that statement with calls for non -violence and peaceful demonstrations, but despite Bondi said she should “carefully violate”.
Germany says this rhetoric is also an old government’s scam to prove to discredit and suppress the protest movements claiming that “a small part of acts of violence are the result of the spread of bad ideas, radical ideas”.
Purdum, one of Tesla’s organizers, advised the protesters to first come their well -being. Leave if you feel unsafe, respect your local protest regulations, do not violate, follow police orders and have the number of a lawyer in the back pocket only in the event, she said.
“Authoritarian regimes have a long history of the equation of a peaceful protest with violence,” said Stephanie Frizzell, a organizer of Tesla Takedown from Dallas. “The Tesla Takedown Movement has always been and will remain inaccurate. Their purpose is to fear us quietly as we stand against destructive actions of Musk – but protecting free speech is essential to democracy. We will not stumble.”
