New Yorkers rallied exterior the Tesla showroom protesting Elon Musk’s energy over the federal authorities.
Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
A whole lot of New Yorkers rallied on Saturday exterior the Tesla showroom on Washington Road within the Meatpacking District in Manhattan, protesting the corporate’s CEO Elon Musk and demanding that he “pull the plug” on his deeds on the “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE).
The protest was organized by the nonviolent political motion group Rise and Resist. Comparable “Tesla Takedown” demonstrations befell throughout the U.S. on Saturday, urging Tesla house owners to promote their automobiles, dump the electrical automobile firm’s shares and “join the picket lines.”
Demonstrators say Musk’s intervention in authorities insurance policies is akin to a coup, referring to the billionaire’s efforts at DOGE in decimating authorities companies. They known as on the courts to restrict Musk and DOGE’s entry to categorized and delicate info.
New Yorkers rallied exterior the Tesla showroom protesting Elon Musk’s energy over the federal authorities.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
New Yorkers rallied exterior the Tesla showroom protesting Elon Musk’s energy over the federal authorities.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
New Yorkers rallied exterior the Tesla showroom protesting Elon Musk’s energy over the federal authorities.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
When President Trump appointed Musk, a non-public citizen who emigrated to the U.S. from South Africa, to supervise DOGE, Trump gave him free rein to chop federal support, freeze billions of {dollars} in federal funding, hearth federal employees, and dismantle federal companies just like the US Company for Worldwide Assist (USAID).
On Saturday, demonstrators chanted, “Trump and Musk are traitors” and “Nobody voted for Elon Musk,” bearing protest indicators studying, “Don’t Buy a Swasticar, “Make No Mistake This Is A Coup,” “No Dictators in the USA,” and “Boycott Tesla.”
In the meantime, members of Rise and Resist tried to entry the Tesla dealership for a peaceable protest. Two members efficiently entered the gross sales room earlier than safety locked the door, leaving the remainder of the group to stage a peaceable sit-in, blocking the doorway to the salesroom.
New Yorkers rallied exterior the Tesla showroom protesting Elon Musk’s energy over the federal authorities.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
Members of the political motion group Rise and Resist protest contained in the Tesla showroom.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
New Yorkers rallied exterior the Tesla showroom protesting Elon Musk’s energy over the federal authorities in New York, New York, on March 1, 2025.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
Longtime Rise and Resist member Jaime Bauer learn a press release vowing to battle again towards Elon Musk and what they describe as an administrative coup by Musk, who has unfettered entry to U.S. authorities companies and delicate information.
“We will use every non-violent method in the book to stop your cuts in their tracks,” Bauer mentioned. “We will turn you into a pariah, and you will end up in the dustbin of history along with oligarchs who enabled Hitler and Mussolini.”
Naomi Braine, professor of Sociology at Brooklyn Faculty and the CUNY Graduate Heart, was additionally a part of the sit-in. Braine instructed New York News Metro she was protesting on behalf of her college students — many are kids of immigrants — who depend on Pell Grants and the Tuition Help Program to get by faculty.
“[My students] are the hopes and dreams of their families. These are young people who are the heart of the American dream, and they are in the middle of the American nightmare,” Braine mentioned.
NYPD officers arrest protestors for blocking the doorway to the Tesla showroom.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
NYPD officers arrest protestors for blocking the doorway to the Tesla showroom.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann 
Members of the political motion group Rise and Resist stage a sit-in exterior the Tesla showroom.Picture by Gabriele Holtermann
Finally, the NYPD moved in, arresting all seven sit-in protesters; they have been taken to the seventh Precinct stationhouse and launched with a desk look ticket.
Leslie Kilpatrick heard concerning the protest by Instagram and instructed New York News Metro that rallies protesting the Trump and Musk agenda have been necessary.
“We got to do what we have any control of right now, just to protest,” Kilpatrick mentioned.
Rise and Resister Jay W. Walker instructed New York News Metro that whereas the group had anticipated a very good turnout, the group was larger than anticipated.
“I didn’t think that we would have enough people to fill the entirety of this block of Washington Street, which we did, which is amazing,” Walker mentioned. “The American people are pissed. They’re angry at everything Donald Trump has allowed Elon Musk to do. So it’s great that people are turning out.”
