#Teslatakedown
Dozens of protesters demonstrated at the Tesla showroom in South Lake Union at lunch today, part of a nationwide call for a boycott in light of CEO Elon Musk’s unhinged crime spree against the American people. Unelected, unvetted, unconfirmed, and without a legal position in government, Musk and his minions have made clear their disdain for the temporary restraining orders and other legal proceedings against their illegal shutdown of Congressionally-created agencies and departments, illegal bullying of Federal employees, dangerous intrusion into government databases, and even apparent theft of already-disbursed New York City funds.
“Everywhere around me, I see people who understand the danger, and fascism and other history scholars call it what it is: a coup. But our members of Congress are failing us utterly, and the judicial branch is being ignored, “ said Margie Bone, a retired psychiatrist and member of the group Troublemakers. “Tesla is Musk’s cash machine—diminishing his power with protests and boycotts is one of the levers most readily at hand for regular people. Every day that passes, more is lost, and the harder it gets to rebuild the decades of work and trust that he’s destroying.”
Among other signs, the protesters had “tombstones” that read “RIP Rule of Law”, “RIP Democracy”, "RIP Truth", and “RIP Privacy”. They lay flowers down on these graves in a symbolic move that they hope will inspire members of Congress—and the general population—to rise from the dead, and fight for the best things that America has always claimed to represent.
“The danger to the U.S. is unprecedented,” says Johanna Lundahl, a Troublemaker and recent graduate of the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance at the University of Washington. “The chaos is so extreme that it’s impossible to parse the distractions from the crimes that are intended to stick while we’re overwhelmed—but it’s clear that they’re doing everything they can to weaken the most important parts of the U.S. government. Musk is out of control, and Trump is thrilled.”
Protesters say that actions will continue—and escalate—as long as the lawlessness continues. The action today was a shot across the bow for the national actions--and another one is already planned for Seattle at 10am on Saturday.
