Protesters gather at a "Tesla Takedown" protest in Berkeley, Calif.

 Over 1,000 demonstrators filled the street in front of a Tesla dealership Saturday in this Bay Area city synonymous with the free speech movement of the late 1960s, to voice their displeasure with Elon Musk’s efforts to dramatically scale down the federal workforce.

“This whole thing about an unelected person doing so much damage to the federal government... I really wanted to come out,” Esther Hill, 66, a retired former employee of the Environmental Protection Agency, told Yahoo News. “I know how much good is being done by these so-called federal bureaucrats."

A week ago, just 200 people turned out for Berkeley’s “Tesla Takedown” protest, where a Trump supporter brandished a taser at demonstrators before being arrested. At this week’s protest, which was part of what organizers dubbed a “Global Day of Action,” police closed off traffic on the block of Fourth Street where the Tesla showroom is located.

“I believe in the people’s right to express themselves,” an officer, who declined to be interviewed for this article, was heard telling a protester.

The Tesla dealership locked its doors shortly before noon, as hundreds of protesters, most of whom appeared to be over the age of 55, began gathering on the sidewalk. Soon, they overflowed into the street, carrying signs showing Musk giving what appeared to be a Nazi salute and encouraging people to stop buying Teslas.

A similar scene played out at Tesla protests at 253 locations around the world, a marked increase from the number of demonstrations in previous weeks, organizers said. In the U.S., that meant bigger crowds at dealership demonstrations in places like New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Dallas, St. Louis, Chicago, Palm Beach County, Fla., and dozens more.

“If you got a CyberTruck, you’re an a**hole,” Michael Wong, 59, told Yahoo News. “You knew what he was by the time that came out. I know that people bought Teslas for a reason — to be ecologically beneficial — and I don’t begrudge them that, but I think if you’re still buying one and helping to line his pockets then you’re really being unconscionable.”

In recent weeks, a spate of vandalism and sometimes violent protests of Musk’s role in President Trump’s government has occurred nationwide. Two weeks ago, the FBI issued an alert warning that acts of vandalism, including gunfire, have occurred at Tesla dealerships in at least nine states. The FBI warned citizens to “exercise vigilance” and to “look out for suspicious activity” on or around dealership locations. Last week, the agency announced it was creating a task force to investigate recent attacks on the company.

Musk himself vowed this week to “go after” those who he blames for “pushing the propaganda” that he says has led to violence against his company. But Saturday’s demonstration in Berkeley was decidedly peaceful.

“I’d like to see 5,000 people here. We need a swell of people and action, or we’re going to lose everything,” Wayne Bendell, 62, told Yahoo News.

While Musk has justified federal job cuts as a way to try to address the national debt, Bendell sees another motivation.

“I am 100% against what is going on in Washington, and I believe that Elon Musk is primarily responsible for most of what’s going on,” he said. “His intent is to erode the underpinnings of democracy.”

That sentiment was repeated by many people that Yahoo News spoke with in Berkeley.

“I’ve been protesting for about 40 years,” said Joyce Rybandt, 81. “I never imagined that we could lose our country, and now I’m not so sure. I hope these protests grow.”

Now in their sixth week, the Tesla Takedown protests will give way next week to nationwide demonstrations planned on April 5, titled “Hands Off!” The question is whether any of the protests will grow so large that the Trump administration is unable to ignore them.

“It’s definitely bigger today than it has been,” Wong said of Saturday’s rally, adding that he is frustrated that “Congress is giving away their power willingly.”

“Who’s going to stop him at this point? We don’t want to see violent conflict happening, but that may be what it comes to,” he added.

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Protests hit Tesla dealerships across the world in challenge to Elon Musk

Thousands of people worldwide on Saturday protested Elon Musk and his efforts with Donald Trump to dismantle the US federal government, with rallies held in front of nearly every Tesla showroom in the US and many around the world – a concerted effort to go after the billionaire’s deep pockets as the CEO of the electric vehicle maker.

Protest organizers asked people to do three things: don’t buy a Tesla, sell off Tesla stock and join the “Tesla Takedown” movement.

“Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk,” reads one of the group’s taglines. “Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy.”

On Saturday, with more than 200 events planned worldwide, protests kicked off midday in front of Tesla showrooms in Australia and New Zealand and then rippled across Europe in countries including Finland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, France, the Netherlands and the UK. Each rally was locally organized with original themes. In Ireland, it was “Smash the Fash”, and Switzerland had “Down with Doge”. Photos posted to Bluesky by Tesla Takedown showed demonstrators in San Jose, California, close to where Tesla was previously headquartered, and Austin, Texas, where its headquarters are now.

Musk, the world’s richest person, heads the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), which he’s tasked with slashing federal budgets in the US, including laying off thousands of workers, though he said in an interview Thursday: “Almost no one has gotten fired.” He’s gone after the Social Security Administration, the Department of Education, the National Park Service and several more departments and agencies, causing widespread backlash and criticism. Musk and Tesla did not return requests for comment.

In San Francisco, a crowd of around 200 people gathered in front of the Tesla showroom. Protesters spilled into the busy street and onto the median, confusing the self-driving Waymos trying to get around people darting back and forth.

A boombox blasted We’re Not Gonna Take It by Twisted Sister and cars drove by honking enthusiastically. Even passing postal trucks, public buses and fire engines honked in support. People propped up signs with slogans like “Burn your swastikar before it burns you” and “No Doge bags”. Others flew massive American flags mounted upside down.

The block-long Tesla showroom was emptied of all cars, and only a few security guards stood inside, with some San Francisco police outside. At one point, a group of four men wearing red Maga hats and black Doge shirts walked through the crowd, but everything remained calm.

“I’m out here protesting because what I see is a hostile takeover of our country,” said Myra Levy, who was holding a sign that said “Pinche Ladrón” (“fucking thief”). “That is not OK for me. That is not OK for all of us.”

Her friend, Karen Heisler, emphatically added: “We did not vote for this.”

In Berkeley, California, the Tesla showroom has shut down every Saturday for the last month because of the weekly protests, according to salespeople from neighboring retailers. Only security guards have stayed on to guard the building. It’s been the scene of lively demonstrations that have included a mariachi band and a 10-foot cardboard Cybertruck for people to spray-paint. Earlier this month, the showroom’s front door was splattered with red paint. The showroom manager declined to comment.

In New York City, several hundred anti-Tesla protesters gathered outside the EV company’s Manhattan showroom on Saturday. Sophie Shepherd, 23, an organizer with Planet Over Profit, explained that the rally was not about protesting electric cars.

“We’re here to protest Musk, who has essentially held a Tesla car show on the White House lawn,” she said. “We want to disrupt his business as much as possible, so that includes all Teslas, and not just the Cybertruck.”

Marty, 82, said he was attending the New York City rally “because I’m worried about my country”. In the 1960s, he protested the Vietnam war. “Now, it’s the overthrow of our country by oligarchs,” he said. The rally, he went on, was a message to “this guy Elon who is buying our government”.

On Friday, the New York police department said its officers were searching for two suspects who allegedly carved the word “Nazis” and a swastika on the doors of a Tesla Cybertruck in Brooklyn this week, part of an uptick in attacks on Tesla vehicles and facilities across the US since Trump took office.

In Washington DC, organizers planned a rally in front of a new Tesla showroom in Georgetown, making the theme “Tesla Takedown Dance Party”. “Dump the meme stock, join dance lines,” read the flyer. “The stakes couldn’t be higher but that doesn’t mean we can’t have fun!”

“The hypocrisy is so deep,” said Manissa Maharawal, an assistant professor at American University who has studied anti-tech protests and points out that Tesla has received billions in government funding. “It’s this company that’s been subsidized in a lot of ways by the government, but now the CEO is trying to dismantle the government because he thinks he knows better than everyone, because he comes from the tech industry.”

In the US, protests happened in nearly every state, across the north-east, south and midwest through to the west coast. States with the most planned rallies included Massachusetts, New York, Florida, Texas, Washington and California, totaling more than 100. Several protests also took place throughout Canada.

In London, dozens of demonstrators gathered at a Tesla showroom along the three-lane A40 in West London.

“Musk is hugely abhorrent. He is funding the far right, and meaning that any Republicans who speak out end up not being funded in their next election,” said gay rights campaigner Nigel Warner.

“It’s too overwhelming to do nothing,” said Louise Cobbett-Witten, who has family in the US and was protesting at the Tesla dealership in west London. “There is real solace in coming together like this. Everyone has to do something. We haven’t got a big strategy besides just standing on the side of the street, holding signs and screaming.”

Tesla Takedown organizers reiterated the need for people to continue to speak out and protest against Musk, Trump and Doge. The stakes are high and “no one is coming to save us”, they say on their website.

Maharawal, from American University, said she was struck by that sentiment, saying: “For there to be a nationwide and global protest saying ‘no one’s coming to save us’ just speaks to the level of anger and desperation right now.”

Organizers have also been careful to distance themselves from the violent vandalism that has been carried out against Tesla showrooms. Dozens of Tesla facilities have been attacked in the middle of the night with molotov cocktails, gunshots or graffiti saying things like “Fuck Elon” and “Tesla Is Fascist”.

Trump has vowed to designate any violence against Tesla dealerships as domestic terrorism.

Tesla Takedown organizers condemn the vandalism. “We are a non-violent grassroots protest movement,” the group says. “We oppose violence and destruction of property. Peaceful protest on public property is not domestic terrorism.”

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