Tesla Takedown: all the news about the protests roiling the automaker

Tesla just opened a retro diner in Los Angeles, so it was only a matter of time before anti-Elon Musk protesters caught wind.

The long-awaited retrofuturistic diner, complete with giant outdoor screens for drive-in movies, dozens of Supercharger stalls, and an Optimus robot serving popcorn, opened to huge lines in West Hollywood on July 21st. Protesters are planning on demonstrating outside the newly opened diner on July 26th, according to the Action Network website, which has served as a repository for the so-called Tesla Takedown movement.

A Tesla Supercharger station was severely damaged in a possible explosion in Lacey, Washington. The local police department is investigating the incident, along with the FBI, which has been probing a number of acts of vandalism involving Tesla.

The Lacey Police Department said it received multiple calls of a “loud noise” at 1:34am PT, which could be a possible explosion. Officers arrived at a Target on Sleater Kinney Road to discover the damaged Tesla Supercharger station. Police said they are investigating the incident as “malicious mischief,” which describes the intentional damaging of someone’s property, and encourage anyone with information to reach out to the FBI.

Amid growing fallout over Elon Musk’s involvement in the Trump administration, Tesla’s sales fell a staggering 13 percent in the first quarter of 2025 year over year.

The company said it produced a total of 362,615 vehicles in the first three months of the year, including 345,454 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and 17,161 “other vehicles,” which includes the Model S, Model X, and Cybertruck. Tesla also said it delivered a total of 336,681 vehicles, including 323,800 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles and 12,881 other vehicles — a 12.9 percent decline compared to Q1 2024. (For a direct-to-consumer company like Tesla, deliveries are a proxy for sales.)

Thousands of anti-Tesla protesters took to the streets Saturday March 29th in opposition to Elon Musk and his efforts with DOGE to eliminate humanitarian aid, close federal agencies, and fire government workers. It was the culmination of nearly two months of steady, almost daily demonstrations aimed at hurting Tesla’s sales — and ultimately Musk himself. Today was billed as a “Global Day of Action” with protests targeting hundreds of Tesla locations in the US, Canada, and Europe.

The Verge wanted to check the temperature and see how these protesters were thinking about this current moment, and whether they felt their boycott was having its desired effect. Tesla sales have slid significantly since the protests started, and its stock has shed a lot of its value. But Musk shows no signs of being deterred, as he ramps up his threats to sic the government on anti-Tesla forces.

A report in the New York Post on Monday revealed the existence of a new 10-person FBI task force focused on vandalism and other activity aimed toward Tesla in response to the actions of Elon Musk.

Like Attorney General Pam Bondi’s re-announcement last week of old charges against people accused of targeting Tesla locations for vandalism and arson, today’s announcement didn’t come with specific new details. It did come with more statements calling the acts “domestic terrorism,” a line pushed by Musk, Trump, and others in recent weeks. FBI Director Kash Patel repeated the phrase while sharing the story on X, also saying, “The FBI has been investigating the increase in violent activity toward Tesla, and over the last few days, we have taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate our response.”

At a surprise all-hands-on meeting Thursday night in Texas, Tesla CEO Elon Musk rallied up his company’s employees as the brand’s public reputation continues to plummet, Business Insider reports. At the livestreamed meeting, Musk told employees to “hang on to your stock” – which declined in value by 50 percent since December – and promised big things are coming for its Cybercab robotaxi and Optimus humanoid robot.

Musk deflected on the stock drop at the meeting and reiterated promises that Tesla’s autonomous software used for its vehicles’ so-called Full Self-Driving feature, robotaxis, and Optimus bots would bring the company’s value to new heights. “It’s so profound and there’s no comparison with anything in the past,” Musk said. He says they can make about 5,000 Optimus robots this year. “I think we will literally build a legion, at least one legion of robots this year and then probably 10 legions next year,” Musk said.

As reports of vandalism and even a supposed doxing website targeting Tesla locations and vehicles continue to appear, Attorney General Pam Bondi issued a new warning about old crimes. In a Department of Justice press release, she “announced charges against three individuals responsible for the violent destruction of Tesla properties.”

It didn’t mention that all of the arrests and charges listed had already been reported days or weeks ago.

Tesla has issued a recall for 46,096 Cybertrucks in the US to fix a fault that was causing the steel trim on some vehicles to come loose or fly off while driving. The recall applies to every Cybertruck manufactured between November 13th, 2023, and February 27th, 2025, according to the report filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), with around one percent of the impacted vehicles believed to have the trim defect.

This is the eighth recall for the Cybertruck since it launched in December 2023. A similar recall was issued last summer regarding a trim fault in the truck bed that also risked coming loose and creating road hazards. The latest issue has been reported directly to the NHTSA by several Cybertruck owners, alongside being documented online in Cybertruck owner’s forums and teardown videos posted to YouTube by Reid Tomasko and Cody Detwiler.

Today we’re talking about the protests against Tesla, which have been branded on social media under the hashtag Tesla Takedown. The protests are, of course, a reaction to Elon Musk, who has managed to install himself as basically a not-so-shadow president who is tearing the federal government apart, leaving confusion and destruction in his wake.

A lot of people are deeply unhappy with this state of affairs. And because Musk is not an elected official but is, on some level, a car salesman, many of those frustrated and angry people are taking aim at the most visible and accessible symbol of his power and wealth: Tesla itself.

Tesla protesters are planning their “biggest day of action” yet, aiming for 500 demonstrations at Tesla showrooms across the world on March 29th, organizers said during a mobilizing call Wednesday.

The protests started at a handful of Tesla locations in early February, and has grown to hundreds of locations across the world, as more people have come out to demonstrate against CEO Elon Musk’s dismantling of the federal government. Waving signs and chanting slogans, the so-called Tesla Takedown protesters have become a flashpoint for opposition to Musk’s actions to eliminate federal aid programs and fire tens of thousands of government employees as the head of DOGE, or the Department of Government Efficiency.

A month of anti-Tesla dissent escalated this week with two reports of Teslas catching fire in Las Vegas and Kansas City.

The first incident happened early Tuesday morning at a Tesla collision center in Las Vegas, where police say a suspect in all-black gear hit several vehicles with Molotov cocktails and three bullets and painted the word “resist” on the doors of the facility, as reported earlier by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Briefly, here’s what’s up with Tesla over the past few weeks: its stock is down more than 50 percent since December; Tesla sales in California are plummeting; Cybertruck deliveries are reportedly paused because the vehicles are falling apart; protesters are demonstrating outside Tesla showrooms across the country; and Tesla owners are selling their cars to avoid getting called Nazis.

But that’s not all. According to data from YouGov, a market research firm, the public’s impression of the company has never been worse, reaching its lowest point since YouGov began tracking Tesla in 2016. YouGov asks members of the public daily questions about Tesla to gauge overall sentiment. (Sherwood first reported the data.)

Tesla stock plunged 15 percent on Monday, its steepest drop in five years. The price is down over 50 percent since its December highs. Tesla owners, disgusted with Elon Musk’s slash-and-burn tactics for the Trump administration, are selling their vehicles at a big loss. And Tesla showrooms across the country are becoming magnets for large crowds of protesters who want to see the company fail spectacularly.

But at least Musk can still count on one guy to have his back.

At a White House event where he promised to buy a Tesla, President Donald Trump says he’ll label violence at Tesla locations as domestic terrorism.

Over the past few weeks, protests against Tesla CEO and Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) head Elon Musk have escalated at Tesla locations. There have been reports of situations like gunshots at a Tesla dealership and vandalism aimed at Tesla.

This weekend, protests escalated at Tesla showrooms across the nation. Hundreds of people gathered to boycott Elon Musk and his involvement in the Trump administration as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is overseeing a massively disruptive effort to fire thousands of federal workers to slash government spending.

Most of these protests are associated with the Tesla Takedown movement that first emerged in February. It encourages supporters to “sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines” as part of efforts to “stop Musk.” But momentum has ramped up significantly in the past week, leading to bigger turnouts and some arrests.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, around 50 sign-wielding protesters stood outside the Tesla showroom in Manhattan’s Meatpacking neighborhood, screaming insults at passing Tesla vehicles.

“Uncool car!”

Protestors are planning more demonstrations outside Tesla showrooms nationwide this weekend, as Elon Musk’s polarizing behavior and political activities within the Trump administration continue to have negative side effects on his electric car business.

The protests are being advertised on BlueSky under the tags “Tesla Takeover” and “Tesla Takedown,” similar to demonstrations held last weekend. At least three dozen events are listed on Action Network’s website, with a banner urging people who own Tesla vehicles or stock in the company to divest, sell their vehicle, and “join the picket line.”

Elon Musk’s role in carrying out President Donald Trump’s dirty work has triggered a wave of opposition that is spilling over into protests against his flagship company, Tesla. Over the last week, some people have held demonstrations while others have vandalized Tesla vehicles owned by individual buyers and showrooms — with actions stretching from New York, Colorado, and California, to as far as The Netherlands and Germany.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has accessed sensitive government data and cut congressionally mandated funds to agencies. After court orders demanded a halt to some of its actions, Musk and Vice President JD Vance have hinted they may ignore the rulings. Tesla’s hundreds of showrooms, as well as other locations, present a ripe target for venting frustrations about Musk’s political activities.