Protests against Tesla, Musk, and the Kremlin: The Chicago “Tesla Take Down” Demonstration

Demonstrators gathered in massive numbers in Daley Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, too, where a CBS Chicago livestream showed what looked like many thousands of people streaming from one side of the street to another for many blocks while this story was being written. In Germany and London, protesters are taking to the streets.

Jessica Toman, who went to the protest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, texted the above image to me. A picture of a protest on Bluesky was posted by someone who guessed that the protesters numbered in the thousands.

The “Tesla Take Down” protests took place last weekend to show displeasure with Musk, the CEO of the company, who has spearheaded an effort to carry out mass federal workforce layoffs. As Tesla’s sales have plummeted this quarter, Musk has threatened to “go after” the company’s critics, while the FBI has created a task force to investigate individual acts of vandalism and other actions aimed at the company.

Thousands of signs surround the Washington Monument with messages all over it. “Support Ukraine,” “Beware of DOGE,” “Protect Trans Lives,” were just a few of them. Others wrote a note of anger: “Where do I start…”

The woman in front of the Washington Monument was wearing pool noodles and holding signs that said “Doge is a scam” and “stand with Ukranian”. Law firms, universities and federal agencies are some of the things the government should keep its hands off. “There are so many things that Trump has done — and Musk and [Vice President JD] Vance — that are outrageous,” she told me. “Every single day, there are four or five things. It is possible that cutting agencies that do really vital functions might be a better idea than taking people off the street. Susan did not give her last name, but she did say that she chose the pool noodles to underscore the peacefulness of the event. “This is a non-violent movement, and unlike the January 6th insurrectionists who brought flag poles and other things to use as weapons, everybody who’s here is here to peacefully protest.”

Many people traveled to the nation’s capital through the use of buses, as well as to other cities where protests were taking place, even though some organizers had arranged buses for them. New York City reportedly had a similar turnout to DC — which is a much smaller city — and protests cropped up in stereotypically deep-red states like Idaho and West Virginia. The rally in DC was deeply personal for many who attended. A person who identified herself as a federal worker and did not want to give her name said that VOUGHT said that they were going to put us into trauma, and they were doing that every day. “And it has been nothing but a nightmare since January 20th for 3 million federal employees.”

Leonard Bailey, a retired DOJ worker, created a figure of a man in a DOGE cap out of chicken wire and foam. Bailey said that itPains him to see how his fellow workers are treated by Musk’s DOGE. He says that he has worked with colleagues who work night and day to make sure the American public is safe. He started his pre-planned retirement in January, and while he says that people keep telling him what a great timing it is he is nursing a case of survivor’s guilt.

Being among other federal workers brought some solace to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) enforcement attorney Doug Wilson, a member of the agency’s union. There was a rocky few months for the bureau, with acting director Vought ordering employees to stop working, until a judge ordered them back to work.

Hands Off Our Democracy: 50501 of The Most Popular Demonstrations of Musk’s Actions in the DOGE Department of Government Efficiency

One of the most specific numbers reported so far comes from the social media accounts of 50501, one of the most prominent protest movements that have sprung up in the wake of Musk’s actions as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The group posted that there were 3 million people who stood up to say hands off our democracy.