As Elon Musk and Acolytes tear him through the federal government looking for organizations to fly to “Chipper wood,” An attempt at a popular basis to hit the richest man in the world, where it hurts, gets steam.
The courts are busy with challenging the actions of the Musk Government Effectiveness Department, but the judicial system is slow – and citizens get Antsy.
Some in the US who are strong in the Musk government have sold their Teslas or went straight to vandalism.
But hundreds of others are now planning to protest Tesla delegations across the country on February 15 – a movement that quickly returned this week by misinformation researcher Joan Donovan and accelerated by the documentary and Star Franchise.
“As citizens, we have different points of leverage,” Donovan said in an interview with TechCrunch. “Someone is talking to our representatives, but another publicly pays attention to the conflict of the federal government, and in particular the way Musk works without transparency and, it also seems, impunity.”
What started in Bluesky has spread to scheduled protests outside the Tesla showrooms across the country in cities such as Austin, Portland, Seattle, Kansas City and Mesa of Arizona.
Tesla and Musk did not respond to requests for comments. TechCrunch will update whether Musk or automaker answers.
The motivation for Donovan – who is also an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Boston, but said he was acting in his capacity as a US citizen – came when he saw the first small protests outside Tesla stores last week.
“I was inspired by a small protest in Maine, where people had brought some signs to a Tesla charging station and how it had a discussion and allowed people to meet and discuss what was going on,” Donovan said.
So earlier this week, Donovan began publishing.
“If Musk thinks he can accelerate DC leak to download personal data, we can definitely hit some pots and pans on the sidewalks Infront [sic] of Tesla’s representatives’, she I wrote On February 8, while linked to her list of stores in Tesla in the US, she added a hashtag, “#teslatakeover”.
Winter, who worked with Donovan to organize his 2022 appearances documentary The result of YouTube at universities told TechCrunch that he saw the positions and reached it to help organize the effort.
“Sell your Teslas, throw away your inventory, join Picket lines”, winter posted at Bluesky on February 10. “Hurting Tesla stops Musk and stopping Musk will help to save our lives and democracy.”
After this position, Winter and Donovan encouraged people to create their own local Tesla acquisition events. Since Friday afternoon, people had created 42 protest events in all the US, including California, Florida, Texas and New York.
Winter told TechCrunch in an interview with which he worked with The task of disorderA group that offers training for people interested in mass activism. He said that hundreds of people have RSVP’D in the various events so far, and that more appear every day. Winter also stated that he has even heard from people who are planning them internationally.
Protests are more than shaping the visual and community building, Winter said. Musk’s enormous wealth is largely linked to its ownership for about 20% of Tesla’s stock. This makes it somewhat vulnerable to large changes in the company’s shares – double because it has borrowed an incredible amount of money over these shares.
While the exact amount of the dollar is unknown, from the April 2024 regulatory deposit, Musk had used almost 60% of all Tesla shares that then belonged to As collateral for loans. Theoretically, if the price of Tesla’s shares was low enough, Musk’s lenders could ask to return what is still due or at least renegotiate their terms.
“The long goal is to underestimate, to create a vote without confidence in the future of the company, and to promote a wide sale of shares that would legally hurt him,” he said. “But I also see enormous value only in the aspect of education and education he sees in the public.”
The winter background makes him well prepared for this educational effort. He made a documentary on Panama’s documents (a project that exposed financial crime and corruption around the world) and the possible damage to YouTube’s algorithmic feed. It also participates in the “Free Feeds” initiative, which is an attempt to build an open social media system at Bluesky’s at Protocol.
With this in mind, it is not surprising that he has been worried about Musk’s influence on technology for years.
Donovan said he believes that Musk “really exploits the fact that many Americans are ignoring the way the government is really working” while spreading this misinformation. He is worried that he will lead to violence – especially as Musk and his supporters distinguish government workers, judges and members of their family.
This is another reason why Donovan said he wants people to go out and protest.
“My hope is that people come together, acting locally, but think about these protests and find more local ways to resist,” Donovan said. “I think one of the things Musk has overlooked is that power does not come from the federal government, power comes from states and there are many that can do different government agencies to achieve the federal government’s power to account for accountability . “
