A Tesla facility in B.C.’s Langley faced protest Saturday afternoon as a crowd gathered to condemn the car brand’s co-founder and CEO Elon Musk, amid his ongoing role in President Donald Trump’s administration.
From 12 p.m. the group rallied outside the Tesla showroom on the Langley Bypass, holding large Canadian flags and colourful banners bearing the slogans ‘Boycott Tesla’ and ‘Stop Musk Save Democracy.’ Motorists driving the busy highway honked their car horns and yelled out of their car windows in a show of support
Pat McCutcheon, the organizer of the event, wanted to make it clear on Saturday that the group did not have a problem with people who own Teslas, only Musk himself.
“I don’t have any animosity against the Tesla owners. I think they bought the Tesla product a year ago, two years ago, three years ago, with the best intentions, and they’re finding themselves in a very awkward place right now,” he said, adding how it is now up to those owners to “make the decision” regarding what they want to do with their vehicle.
“I’m sure that they bought them with all the good intentions, but Elon Musk represents a real danger to democracy,” he said.
“He and President Trump and the other oligarchs are dismantling democracy in the United States right now, and there’s a very, very real threat that that movement will come across the border into Canada.”
The event joins the wave of ‘Tesla Takedown’ protests that have been taking place across the world. Most thus far have been peaceful, but some acts of protest have seen Tesla showrooms set alight and cars violently defaced.
On Friday, a man was arrested after he allegedly vandalized a Tesla dealership in Vancouver’s Kistilano neighbourhood, spray painting a swastika and “f*** Elon” onto the front window of the building. So far this year, the Vancouver Police Department said it has investigated eight acts of violence and vandalism believed to be politically motivated and in opposition to Musk’s political affiliation with the U.S. president.
“The vandalism that you’re seeing is generally by individuals that are committing the vandalism in the dark of night. We don’t welcome that sort of activity at all. We’re a peaceful, non violent organization,” said McCutcheon Saturday afternoon.
“We do not vandalize anything. We’re just out here to get our message across.”
McCutcheon said the protest’s aim was to encourage drivers to consider other electric vehicles, in the hopes that by pushing back against Musk and “collapsing his wealth,” it will encourage him to “back off” in his political stance.
“The main purpose is to dry up Tesla sales and that, in turn, will drive down the stock price,” he said.
“We have to stand up for democracy. We have to stand up for Canada. And we have to take down Elon Musk.”
