“TESLA TAKEDOWN”: About 500 protesters gathered outside the Tesla dealership in Lawrence Township last Saturday to demonstrate against the actions of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), calling for people to sell their Tesla vehicles and Tesla stock and join in on the anti-Musk chants. (Photo by Andrea Kane)

By Donald Gilpin

About 500 demonstrators gathered outside the Tesla dealership adjacent to the Mercer Mall in Lawrence Township on Saturday afternoon, March 22 for Tesla Takedown III, a rally against the actions of Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

“This illegal, unconstitutional onslaught of Elon Musk, along with President Trump, is a grave danger to the continued functioning of our precious U.S. democracy, including checks and balances central to its proper functioning,” said the Rev. Robert Moore, executive director of the Princeton-based Coalition for Peace Action, which organized the rally along with Indivisible Cranbury.

The demonstrators, carrying signs stating “Stop Elon,” “I Traded In My Tesla and You Should Too,” “Nobody Voted for Elon,” “Arrest Elon Musk,” and more lined the road outside the Tesla Dealership on Brunswick Pike/Route 1 from before 2 p.m. until about 3:30 p.m.

There were five counterprotesters, with American flags and MAGA flags and a bullhorn, who spoke and chanted in support of Musk during speeches by Moore and Indivisible Cranbury founder Laura Zurfluh. At one point one of the pro-Musk demonstrators approached the platform where Moore was speaking, and a Lawrence Township police officer on the scene ushered him away from the platform, but the demonstration was peaceful and the disruptions of counterprotesters were relatively minor.

Demonstrators repeatedly called out chants such as “Sell your Tesla, trade it in” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go,” as Moore and Zurfluh paused in their comments to the crowd.

“Musk and his cronies at DOGE have taken control of the Treasury and other departments, with no governmental authority, with illegal access to confidential data on all citizens and companies, and they are gutting our essential infrastructure,” said Zurfluh.

“He is a menace, and he must be stopped.”

Saturday’s demonstration was the third that has taken place outside Lawrence Township Tesla during the past month — all part of the Tesla Takedown movement, which has organized protests across the U.S. and in Europe, urging supporters to sell their Tesla vehicles, sell their Tesla stock, and join the demonstrations.

Tesla dealerships and individuals’ Tesla vehicles have been vandalized in protest against Musk and DOGE, but CFPA, Indivisible Cranbury, and Tesla Takedown have all made a point of opposing any unlawful actions. Moore warned protestors at Saturday’s rally not even to call out to drivers passing by.

Since the start of anti-Musk protests, Tesla’s stock price has declined more than 40 percent from its peak in December, and sales of Tesla vehicles, especially in Europe, have fallen off significantly in recent months.

“Musk, as a businessman, doesn’t like his bottom line to get worse, and it is getting a lot worse,” said Moore. “The idea is to make him feel pressure to stop doing the things he’s doing and ultimately to resign.”

The peaceful Tesla Takedown movement is planning a “global day of action” this Saturday, March 29, with demonstrations on tap at hundreds of Tesla dealerships around the world. Moore noted that CFPA will be cosponsoring a “Hands Off” (e.g. Social Security, Medicaid, etc.) rally on April 5 from noon to 1:30 p.m. in Hinds Plaza in Princeton, part of another national coordinated day of action.

Princeton resident and CFPA advocacy committee co-chair Kip Cherry commented on her presence at the rally. “The message is very clear, she said. “We are very concerned about Elon Musk. He should leave the government. I’m extremely concerned about our democracy, and he is upending everything that we believe in.”

She continued, “He has not been appointed democratically to his position. He has not been given that kind of authority by the people, and he’s not using due process. He should leave the government and go back to what he’s supposed to be doing as a CEO.”

Claiming that Trump and Musk are “engaging in lawlessness and cruelty to average citizens, especially those who are most vulnerable,” Moore stated, “This must stop now.” In his remarks to the crowd, Moore pointed out that actions taken by the Trump administration are “unconstitutional and lawless, and that’s why so many cases are being filed in court.” He mentioned the dismantling of USAID and the Department of Education, large cuts in IRS staffing and Medicaid that will likely bring catastrophic results.

“It’s outrageous,” said Moore. “It’s very, very troubling.”

Warning of Musk’s “threat to our democracy,” Zurfluh explained to the demonstrators, “We are here to support those who are marginalized, weakened, and under attack by the rich and powerful. When I was a kid we called people who only picked fights with the smaller kids bullies. And now that behavior is coming from the president of the United States and his DOGE leader Elon Musk. Today we rally to show we love our country, and we won’t let it be stolen from us.”

CFPA advocacy committee co-chair Marc Tolo, who attended the rally with a sign that read “MAGA has run amusk,” explained why he was supporting the anti-Musk demonstrators. “What’s happening in Washington now is mind-boggling, putting us on the edge of a crisis,” he said. “There are not a lot of things that Congress can do right now. That leaves it to the rest of us to do something about it.”