April 25, 2025/Midnight
Originally published in print April 14, 2025
Erie, Pa.– The news of Elon Musk’s involvement with the White House starting in February and since then there has been plenty of news surrounding the billionaire. The businessman is mostly known for his ownership stakes in the social media platform X and his connections with PayPal and Neuralink.
One of Musk’s most well-known investments is in his car company, Tesla. In 2004 he invested $6.5 million into Tesla which gave him an ownership stake and became the company’s largest shareholder. Even though most would expect continuous success for the billionaire, it has appeared in recent times that Tesla’s are becoming the target for vandalism.
Tesla vehicles, dealerships, and charging stations have been vandalized, faced arson attacks, and faced protests starting earlier this year.
At first most of the protests were nonviolent demonstrations protesting Musk’s involvement in the White House. One of the most recent incidents occurred overnight in Oregon where more than a dozen shots were fired at a Tesla dealership. For that dealership it was the second time within the last week that it has been the target of violence.
On Sunday Elon Musk called for the arrest and prosecution of organizers behind the anti-Tesla protests at almost 200 Tesla showrooms worldwide.
The protests have been found to be a “Global Day of Action” for some in aims to hit the CEO in his wallet, retaliating against the many cuts that he has made to the federal government.
Specifically, the spending through the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE which had been originally announced in November 2020.
Known as the “Tesla Takedown” it has also encouraged people to sell or dump Tesla stock to try to tank the company.
It had been found that while Musk has been cutting federal programs his companies continue to benefit from different government contracts, which have earned $8 million each day from those contracts.
Elon Musk’s investment in Tesla has shaped the company into a global leader in electric vehicles.
Recent events have displayed the growing backlash against Musk’s dual roles as a corporate leader and a government official. The “Tesla Takedown” protests prove the tension between his cost-cutting measures in federal programs and the financial benefits his companies continue to receive from government contracts.
