About 250 people protested in front of the Tesla dealership in Lawrence, NJ on Saturday March 8 as part of a nationwide series of demonstrations known as “Tesla Takedowns.” The event, which was organized by several local activist groups, including Indivisible Cranbury, was peaceful but at one point police intervened to ensure participants did not block access to entryways.
Protestors lined both sides of the street in front of the dealership holding up signs that read “NO ONE ELECTED (F)ELON” and “FIRE ELON” and chanting slogans including “Stop the Coup,” “No one voted for Elon,” and “Elon Musk go back to Mars, we don’t want your swasta-cars.”
Drivers passing by participated by honking their horns rhythmically in sync with the chants, waving, clapping, or smiling with an occasional thumbs up.
When people drove by in Teslas, they were met with a unified rumbling “Boooo.”
When asked to comment on the situation, one Tesla representative responded, “Absolutely not,” He later came outside and added, “I apologize, I’m just trying to protect my employees.”
The police arrived on the scene as Tesla blasted radio music from a vehicle that began when Natasha Purdum, a local activist associated with 50501 group, spoke on a bullhorn and protestors stepped into the street making it difficult for cars to pass.
Sergeant Andrew Lee explained, “You can’t be blocking means of egress on the roadway. You can’t block, obviously, Tesla from going in and out of the establishment.”
Asked about the protesters, Sgt. Lee said, “Just as long as they’re within the law to do what they’re doing, we’re never going to stop that.” He gave a thumbs up and said, “Freedom of speech.”
Prudum said she decided to join 50501 at her first Tesla Takedown event two weeks earlier in Cherry Hill, NJ.
She says, “I had taped little Xs over my Tesla logos and an anti-Elon bumper sticker and I still felt like I wasn’t doing enough, but I couldn’t really stomach the financial loss of the trade-in.”
However, Purdum announced on the bullhorn during the protest that she would be returning her Tesla, and switching to Polestar, an alternative electric vehicle brand, for her “bright shiny new car,” making a symbolic stand against Tesla and officially leaving the brand behind.
A Polestar representative confirmed that there has been an uptick, but could not correlate it to anything political. He did confirm they were offering a $5000 dollar rebate to current Tesla owners.
While the “Tesla Takedown” movement has mainly focused on encouraging Tesla owners to sell their vehicles and sell any Tesla stocks they own, it has also expanded into broader political activism.
Purdum says, “Shake the foundation of what you know is right and wrong. I’m only one person, but I’m out here and I’m yelling and I’m talking to individuals, and I’m hugging people that are sad, and there’s so much that you as just one person can do to change someone’s life and to change the world.”
Laura Zurfluh from Indivisible Cranbury, one of the protest organizers, said, “I don’t think there’s any way we’re going to get through this authoritative regime without flooding the streets and forcing politicians to hear us.”
