"Tesla Takedown"

"All of the platforms in which we communicate and talk to one another are controlled more and more by the tech oligarchy."

"Were seeing that the press is being owned by billionaires, the social media we use is owned by the same billionaires, and the alignment that is happening in the United States ... is just a more overt version of the same kind of thing that's happening in Canada." 

Juan Alperin, professor, faculty of communication, art and technology, Simon Fraser University

 

"[It's my belief that billionaires are] interfering [with politics in North America and Europe in ways they should not be involved]."

"I'm also against the attacks on Canadian sovereignty ... by saying Canada is not a country and that our prime minister is a governor [Musk quips]."

Andrew Balakshin, Vancouver resident 

Over 80 Tesla vehicles were damaged at a Hamilton, Ontario dealership in a vandalism spree. Carscoops

The backlash against Elon Musk's support of U.S. President Donald Trump's war on Canada begins to mirror a rising tide of popular dissent within the United States that has begun targeting the appointed head of DOGE, through targeting his Tesla electric vehicle car production facilities in a series of protests outside Tesla dealerships to deliver a message of rejection. Those protests are par for the course with a disgruntled public expressing their opinion. It is the accompanying and linked violent criminal acts of sabotage, of puncturing tires, keying paint jobs and most of all fire-bombing vehicles that tell the story of matters getting out of hand.

 

Now Canadians in cities including Ottawa and Vancouver have linked themselves to the growing rejection of Tesla as representative of government-cost-slashing actions of DOGE, under the direction of Elon Musk that speaks to a spreading global rejection of U.S. President Donald Trump's abrasive and volatile style of government.

 

Surrey, British Columbia saw residents holding signs with messages including "elbows up", "Elon be-gone", and "democracy dies in apathy". President Trump has proceeded with his threat to slap steep tariffs on Canadian goods, the result of which has predictably been a trade war. His repeated barbs that Canada would be better off as the 51st state, and that Canadians would love to become Americans, surrendering their sovereignty for the 'greater good' of immersing within the U.S. has struck most Canadians as an unforgivable assault by a former friendly neighbour. 

 

A number of the most prominent incidents in the U.S. have been reported in left-leaning cities in the Pacific Northwest, like Portland, Oregon, and Seattle, where anti-Trump and anti-Musk sentiment runs high. In this image, a member of the Seattle Fire Department is seen inspecting a burned Tesla Cybertruck at a Tesla lot in Seattle, Monday, March 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)

 

Ordinary Canadians have retaliated by refusing to buy American products, seeking out Canadian-produced goods or alternately foodstuffs arriving in Canada from other parts of the world rather than the United States. Musk, the self-described "free speech absolutist" faces criticism from hate-speech watchdogs, seething with outrage that his social media platform X allows extremist, dangerous and antisemitic comments to flourish on X.

 

The world's wealthiest individual has been advising President Trump on overhauling the federal government through the Department of Government Efficiency, newly created to install Mr. Musk as a special government agent dedicated to reducing the costs of government services. There are those who cite a post Musk shared originating with another X user that posted: "Stalin, Mao and Hitler didn't murder millions of people. Their public sector workers did."

 

Tesla dealership in Austin, Texas. Photograph: Brandon Bell/Getty Images

 

Few individuals have the high profile internationally as does Elon Musk. His partnering with the new U.S. president has only increased his visibility and the suspicions surrounding his intentions. Resulting in the auto production company directly associated with the man becoming a target for protests and vandalism. In Oregon gunshots were fired at a Tesla dealership. In Seattle four Cybertrucks were destroyed in a deliberate blaze.

 

Action Network website hosts the "Tesla Takedown" protests where events are posted, used by individuals and community groups to promote what the site describes as 'progressive causes'. Dozens of protests are shown scheduled across the United States and Europe through the remainder of March and into April. 

 

Law enforcement respond to reports of incendiary devices at Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas, March 24, 2025.  @DocumentingATX / X

"The FBI will be relentless in its mission to protect the American people. Acts of violence, vandalism, and domestic terrorism — like the recent Tesla attacks — will be pursued with the full force of the law."

"These criminal actions appear to have been conducted by lone offenders, and all known incidents occurred at night."

"Individuals require little planning to use rudimentary tactics, such as improvised incendiary devices and firearms, and may perceive these attacks as victimless property crimes." 

Federal Bureau of Investigation statement