300 TURN OUT FOR SPRINGFIELD TESLA DEALERSHIP PROTEST

Democrats “need to start throwing some sand in the gears”

“The more visible people are, the hope is that it pushes the Democrats to understand what this moment calls for,” said Kirsten Brash, of Maplewood, New Jersey, about why she turned out on a chilly Saturday in front of a Tesla dealership on Route 22 in Springfield Township. “Democrats seem to act like they need to follow some sort of rules of decorum that don’t exist anymore. They need to start throwing some sand in the gears.”

Brash, along with her husband, Julian Brash, a Maplewood Democratic district leader, joined more than 300 people chanting and carrying signs for several blocks along the busy highway where the Tesla showroom is located, drawing a constant refrain of supportive honks and waves from passing traffic.

“We are here to send a message to Donald Trump and Elon Musk that we will not let them strip our country for parts,” said Allison Posner, the co-president of SOMA Action, an in interview with The New Jersey Democrat. “And we are sending a message that the people are angry and the people are motivated. We’re gonna fight them like hell.”

She added that this is part of a larger strategy by Indivisible. “There are demonstrations like this happening across the country,” she said.

Although the protest demonstration, organized by SOMA Action, was scheduled to start at noon, more than a hundred people arrived early, and the crowd continued to swell, waving signs saying: “Fire Musk and DOGE,” “Musk Must Go,” and “No Nerd Reich.” There are at least five Tesla dealerships in New Jersey, and all of them have been targeted by protestors from a wide range of progressive and anti-Trump organizations since January, part of a growing nationwide movement aimed at highlighting the role of the world’s richest man in dismantling huge chunks of the federal government.

More than 400 people joined the “Takedown Tesla” movement last week in Lawrence, New Jersey, according to Planet Princeton. Another protest occurred in Paramus, organized by Indivisible NJ5 and Ridgewood Jolt. And protests are scheduled every second and fourth Saturday at the Tesla showroom in Cherry Hill, according to Cooper River Indivisible, where the most recent protest drew 450 people.

The nationwide anti-Tesla eruption has naturally drawn the attention of Pam Bondi, the controversial Trump loyalist just installed as U.S attorney general. “Attorney General Pam Bondi said Friday she is opening an investigation into instances of vandalism at Tesla dealerships as protests against company CEO and DOGE chief Elon Musk grow across the country, days after President Donald Trump threatened protesters will go through ‘hell’ and be labeled domestic terrorists,” reported Forbes.

But, while a number of Tesla protests have involved minor vandalism, the vast majority have been well-organized, peaceful and non-violent, and Trump’s threat of using anti-terrorism laws against peaceful protestors is an empty one. The March 15 Springfield protest was highly disciplined, and organizers were careful both to ensure that protesters didn’t encroach on Tesla’s property nor stray into the traffic lanes.

“The richest man in the world doesn’t want you to criticize him,” said Ezra Levin, the co-executive director of Indivisible, whose hundreds of branches, including SOMA Action, have organized many of the Tesla events. “He’s using his puppet, the president of the United States, to threaten the tools of the state against peaceful Americans expressing their opinions. Donald Trump and Elon Musk are trying to outlaw dissent and silence regular people who threaten their power. This is nothing less than an authoritarian assault on our First Amendment rights.”

Victor De Luca, a member of the township committee in Maplewood, joined the ranks of the Tesla protestors. “I think we have to keep standing up to Trump and Musk,” he told TNJD. “The most visible target now is Musk, doing everything to destroy government, and we have to be out here.” People, he said, have to provide the leadership. “The politicians aren’t doing it. I don’t think there’s a strategy, particularly among our national officials, of how to address this. So people need to be in the streets.”

And being in the streets is a lot more invigorating than working the phones at home. “There’s only so many phone calls I can do,” added Kirsten Brash, who’s constantly calling her U.S. senators and representatives.