A protester holds a placard during a Tesla Takedown Global Day protest in front of a Tesla dealership, in Berlin, Saturday, March 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi)2025-03-29T18:13:54Z SAN FRANCISCO (AP) Crowds protesting billionaire Elon Musks purge of the U.S. government under President Donald Trump began amassing outside Tesla dealerships throughout the U.S. Saturday in the latest attempt to dent the fortune of the worlds richest man.The protesters are trying to escalate a movement targeting Tesla dealerships and vehicles in opposition to Musks role as the head of the newly created Department of of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where hes gained access to sensitive data and shuttered entire agencies as he attempts to slash government spending. Most of Musks estimated $340 billion fortune consists of the stock he holds in the electric vehicle company that he continues to run while also working alongside Trump.Earlier protests have been somewhat sporadic. Saturday marked the first attempt to surround all 277 of the automakers showrooms and service centers in the U.S. in hopes of deepening a recent decline in the companys sales. By early afternoon, crowds ranging from a few dozen to hundreds of protesters had flocked to Tesla locations in New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Maryland, Minnesota and the automakers home state of Texas. Pictures posted on social media accounts showed protesters brandishing signs such as Honk if you hate Elon and Fight the billionaire broligarchy. The Tesla Takedown movement also hoped to rally protestors at more than 230 Tesla locations in other parts of the world. Although the turnouts in Europe werent as large as the crowds in the U.S., the anti-Musk sentiment was similar. About two dozen protesters held signs lambasting Musk outside a Tesla dealership in London as passing cars and trucks tooted horns in support.One of the signs displayed at the London protest showed a photo of Musk next to an image of Adolf Hitler making the Nazi salute a gesture that Musk has been accused of reprising shortly after Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration. A person in a tyrannosaurus rex costume held another sign with a picture of Musks straight-arm gesture that said, You thought the Nazis were extinct. Dont buy a Swasticar. We just want to get loud, make noise, make people aware of the problems that were facing, said Cam Whitten, an American who showed up at the London protest.Tesla Takedown was organized by a group of supporters that included disillusioned owners of the automakers vehicles, celebrities such as actor John Cusack, and at least one Democratic Party lawmaker, Rep. Jasmine Crockett from Dallas.Im going to keep screaming in the halls of Congress. I just need you all to make sure you all keep screaming in the streets, Crockett said during a Tesla Takedown organizing call held earlier this month.Some people opposed to Musk have gone beyond protests and set the automakers vehicles on fire and committed other acts of vandalism that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has decried as domestic terrorism. Musk indicated he was dumbfounded by the attacks during a March 20 company meeting and said the vandals should stop acting psycho. Crockett and other Tesla Takedown supporters have been stressing the importance for Saturdays protests to remain peaceful. But police were investigating a fire that destroyed seven Tesla vehicles in northwestern Germany early Saturday morning. It was wasnt immediately clear if the blaze, which was extinguished by firefighters, was related to the Tesla Takedown protests. A growing number of consumers who bought Tesla vehicles before Musk took over DOGE have been looking to sell or trade in their cars while others have slapped on bumper stickers seeking to distance themselves from the billionaires efforts to prune or shut down government agencies.But Musk didnt appear concerned about an extended slump in sales of new Tesla cars in his March 20 address to employees. He reassured the workers that the companys Model Y, which is undergoing a refresh, would remain the best-selling car on Earth again this year. He also predicted Tesla will have sold more than 10 million cars worldwide by next year, up from about 7 million cars now. There are times when there are rocky moments, where there is stormy weather, but what I am here to tell you is that the future is incredibly bright and exciting, Musk said.After Trump was elected last November, investors initially saw Musks alliance with the president as a positive development for Tesla and its long-running efforts to launch a network of self-driving cars.That optimism helped lift Teslas stock by 70% in the period between Trumps Nov. 5 election and his Jan. 20 inauguration, creating an additional $560 billion in shareholder wealth. But virtually all those gains have evaporated amid investor worries about the Tesla backlash, lagging sales in the U.S., Europe and China, and Musk spending time overseeing DOGE.This continues to be a moment of truth for Musk to navigate this brand tornado crisis moment and get onto the other side of this dark chapter for Tesla, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a research note leading up to Saturdays protests. ___The Associated Press reporters Mustakim Hasnath contributed from London and Stefanie Dazio contributed from Germany. MICHAEL LIEDTKE Liedtke has been covering technology and wide range of other business topics for The Associated Press since the turn of the century. twitter mailto