Last Saturday, I rode a bus through downtown San Francisco and passed the Tesla dealership on Van Ness Avenue. Dozens of people protested outside, most of them holding up quippy signs deriding Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and X and leader of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency. The commotion looked fairly tame — demonstrators chanted, but the noise seemed par for the course for political action.
While activists continue to gather outside Tesla dealerships across the country, however, some events haven’t been so peaceful. There have been purported cases of vandalism and even allegations of terrorism; FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X on Monday that “this is domestic terrorism. Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice.” Dan Bongino, the FBI’s deputy director, also wrote on X that “justice is coming.”
As the protests continue, we’re keeping an eye on some of the most significant events and the FBI response. Plus, we’ll dive into how the drama has impacted Tesla stock — and whether Musk’s wallet has taken a hit.
Why (and how) are people protesting Tesla?
Since February, demonstrators have been gathering outside of Tesla locations to oppose Musk’s newfound governmental role. The events have been urged on by the TeslaTakedown movement, an ongoing protest push that’s called for multiple days of action. (There’s another mass protest scheduled for March 29.) While mainly centralized in the U.S., the upcoming demonstrations will take place on a global scale.
TeslaTakedown says its mission is clear: “We’re tanking Tesla’s stock price to stop Musk.” That includes calls for Tesla owners to sell their cars; some high-profile owners, including Sheryl Crow and Sen. Mark Kelly, have already made a public show of doing exactly that.
“Stopping Musk will help save lives and protect our democracy,” TeslaTakedown’s statement continues. While the movement is explicitly peaceful (“We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property”), the rise in protests has occasionally become dangerous.
Where have protests gotten violent?
For the past two weekends, approximately 100 demonstrators in Austin, home to Tesla’s headquarters, have gathered to publicly ridicule both Musk and President Donald Trump. On Monday morning, the situation escalated: Police in Texas claimed to have found “incendiary devices” placed inside of a Tesla showroom.
“On Monday, March 24, 2025, at approximately 8.04am, Austin Police Department (APD) officers responded to a found/abandoned hazardous call at the Tesla dealership,” APD said in a statement shared with CBS Austin. “When officers arrived on scene, they located suspicious devices and called the APD bomb squad to investigate. The devices, which were determined to be incendiary, were taken into police custody without incident.”
Another act of violence at a Tesla-owned property occurred in Las Vegas: On March 18, a person wearing black shot and set fire to Tesla vehicles at a repair facility.
“This was a targeted attack against a Tesla facility,” Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said in a news conference. “Officers discovered several vehicles on fire as well as the word ‘Resist’ spray-painted on the front doors of the business.”
Not all of the chaos has been perpetrated against Tesla. On March 22, a man was arrested and charged with assault after allegedly driving toward protestors outside of a West Palm Beach Tesla dealership. In Berkeley, California, a Trump supporter was arrested after firing a stun gun at activists outside of a dealership.
What about Tesla drivers?
The company itself isn’t the only target: Tesla owners are also feeling the heat. You can now purchase “I got this before Elon went crazy” bumper stickers on Amazon and Etsy — though it’s unclear if the joke actually acts as a deterrent against the real vandalism Tesla owners have recently experienced.
One woman in Kansas went out to dinner and emerged from the restaurant only to discover that her Tesla had been keyed. A Tesla owner told NBC Chicago that someone had applied a “Heil Elon” sticker to his car. Another woman finishing up a shopping trip at Whole Foods in Texas found her Tesla scratched and her door handle damaged.
President Trump has sounded off on individuals who vandalize the cars. On March 21, Trump posted to Truth Social, “People that get caught sabotaging Teslas will stand a very good chance of going to jail for up to twenty years, and that includes the funders. WE ARE LOOKING FOR YOU!!!”
“I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20 year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla,” the president added. “Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”
On March 11, Trump took to the South Lawn of the White House to show off five brand new Teslas, alongside a promise to purchase his own. Trump spoke positively about the brand, saying “I’m going to buy [one]. I’m going to buy because number one it’s a great product — as good as it gets. And number two, [be]cause this man [Musk] has devoted his energy and his life to doing this. I think he’s been treated very unfairly by a very small group of people.”
How are protests impacting Tesla stock?
Tesla sales have plunged in recent months in the U.S. and abroad; one report estimates that sales in Q1 of 2025 are down approximately 14% compared to the last quarter of 2024. Tesla stock has also fallen — but a recent jump has initiated a rollercoaster effect: After dipping a drastic 15% on March 10, the stock has recuperated. Per CNN, “In the past week, Tesla’s shares have bounced back somewhat after Musk committed to ambitious plans during an ‘all hands’ company meeting on Thursday. Shares climbed 5% on Friday, 12% on Monday, and more than 3% Tuesday.”
During that March 10 nosedive, however, Musk lost $22.8 billion of his own net worth. For scale, CNN compares that loss to Rupert Murdoch’s entire $22.7 billion fortune. That said, regardless of these recent troubles, Musk remains the richest person in the world.
