Fury swept across Tesla showrooms in multiple cities as protesters rallied against CEO Elon Musk and his controversial leadership of the newly established Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.).
Demonstrators turned out in droves, chanting slogans like "Shut it down!" and holding signs accusing Musk of using government cuts to fund his business empire.
Cities from New York and Los Angeles to Miami and Chicago witnessed these large-scale protests, demanding that Musk’s influence over federal funds come to an end.
The discontent stems from Musk's increasing sway in the US government.
As an adviser to President Donald Trump, Musk has been credited with overseeing drastic job cuts within federal agencies.
These reductions have left tens of thousands of government workers unemployed, causing significant backlash, particularly from those directly impacted.
In the aftermath of these firings, former employees took to social media platforms like X (formerly Twitter) to vent their frustrations, with some accusing Musk’s D.O.G.E. of being a vehicle for enriching his private enterprises at the expense of public welfare.
The controversy surrounding Musk’s actions has extended beyond the United States, with protests in Europe amplifying the global outrage.
In Germany, Tesla’s Berlin factory became the target of a visual protest when activists projected an image of Musk making a gesture likened to a Nazi salute onto the building.
Similarly, UK activist group Led by Donkeys, in collaboration with Germany’s Centre for Political Beauty, launched a campaign condemning Musk's ties to far-right figures.
The protests have taken a violent turn in some locations.
In Oregon and Colorado, Tesla showrooms were targeted by arsonists, while a Tesla showroom in The Hague was defaced with swastikas and anti-fascist slogans.
Small protest groups targeted numerous Tesla showrooms in demonstrations against Elon Musk.
Dutch authorities are investigating the vandalism as tensions around Musk's influence continue to rise.
The unrest has affected Tesla’s stock price, with shares dropping 6% to $328.50 before recovering slightly to $355.84 by the end of the week.
Despite the recovery, the stock is still down by 12% since the beginning of 2025, as investors express growing anxiety about the long-term impact of Musk’s political entanglements and D.O.G.E.'s sweeping cuts to federal services.
The mass firings implemented by D.O.G.E. have particularly infuriated former federal workers.
One ex-employee from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) voiced their anger, claiming,
"Hey Elon! Your D.O.G.E minions just fired me and my colleagues at CMMI. We were working on improving maternal health outcomes AT LOWER COSTS so that less pregnant women would die in this county."
The cuts have also affected agencies such as the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which oversees the US nuclear weapons stockpile.
A report revealed that officials at NNSA struggled to contact former employees after their government email accounts were disabled following their termination, highlighting the growing confusion and frustration among those affected.
As protests swell, legal battles are also intensifying.
On 13 February 2025, 14 US state attorney generals filed a lawsuit challenging Musk’s D.O.G.E. policies, accusing the programme of overstepping constitutional boundaries.
The lawsuit seeks to block Musk from issuing executive orders outside of the executive branch and overseeing the distribution of federal funds.
Further complicating the issue, a coalition of cybersecurity groups, including the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), has filed a separate lawsuit, claiming that Musk’s D.O.G.E. programme illegally forced federal agencies like the Office of Personnel Management and the Treasury Department to surrender sensitive data, resulting in what they describe as the "largest data breach in U.S. history."
Amid growing tensions, the #TeslaTakeover movement, which began on social media platform Bluesky, gained momentum over the weekend, resulting in more than 50 planned protests across the US.
Activist groups, including the Troublemakers and The Disruption Project, rallied support for the cause.
Protesters at Tesla showrooms wore signs with messages like "Stop the broligarchy" and "DOGE is a criminal enterprise," calling on people to stop supporting Tesla and Musk’s ventures.
Protesters rallied, with one demanding Elon Musk's arrest.
One post shared on Bluesky urged potential buyers,
"Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines. Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk. Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy."
As support for these protests continues to grow, it is becoming evident that the movement is likely to intensify unless meaningful changes are made in how Musk uses his influence over both business and government.
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