Waterville 'Tesla Takedown' protest targets Elon Musk, Trump

Yahoo

30-03-2025

Mar. 29—WATERVILLE — They held signs that read "Cut Waste, Cut Fraud, Cut Musk," "Musk Must Go!" and "Deport Musk, Fire Dastardly Oligarchs Grifting Everything."
More than 60 men and women from around central Maine stood Saturday in 30-degree temperatures and about 3 inches of snow that had fallen overnight at the Tesla charging station off Main Street. They greeted motorists at the busy intersection who honked horns and gave the protesters a thumbs up. At least one man, driving a pickup truck, gave them the finger and yelled.
The demonstration was one of hundreds held worldwide Saturday as part of "Tesla Takedown," a planned, peaceful event organizers say is intended to highlight President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's gutting of democracy. The protesters criticized Musk's firing of thousands of federal workers, decimating departments, eliminating agencies and his public demonstration of what he called a fascist salute.
"I feel like I can't sit around at home and watch it all happening," said Richard Smith, 77, of Belgrade Lakes. "You have to do something, and this is something."
Standing next to Smith on Saturday was Waterville native Eric Hooglund, 81, now a resident of Belgrade Lakes. He held a sign that said, "Swasticar, The Facist Thing on Four Wheels," which depicted a red Tesla pickup truck with a swastika on the door.
"This feels a lot like 1933 Germany because that's when Hitler came to power," Hooglund said.
A former U.S. foreign policy and Middle East politics instructor at Bates College in Lewiston, Hooglund said he is in shock about what is happening.
"It's illegal to just abolish government and fire people," he said.
Hooglund said his son-in-law works for the U.S. State Department and got a letter saying he and others were being let go. They were removed from their positions, but learned after a few days that they could return. They live with the uncertainty that it could happen again.
Hooglund himself works with the senior college at the University of Maine at Farmington, and was going to organize a trip in June to Frances Perkins' home, a national monument in Newcastle, but was told he couldn't do so because of federal cuts.
"This is happening all over the country," he said.
The site of Saturday's protest, the Tesla charging station, was where the first known Tesla-related protest was held Feb. 5. Elizabeth Leonard, author, historian and professor emeritus of history at Colby College in Waterville, organized that event, which went viral on both social media and in the news after the Morning Sentinel published a story about it. After the protest, demonstrations were held at Tesla dealerships all over the country and world and Leonard was interviewed by several news organizations.
Leonard also helped with Saturday's event, which was hosted by Mid Maine Indivisible, a group organized by former Waterville Mayor Karen Heck. Mid Maine officials said they believe the Waterville protest was the only one held in Maine that was connected with the worldwide Tesla event.
"This is a good turnout and it shows to me that the revulsion is building and building and building all over the country, even in little towns like Waterville, Maine," Leonard, 68, said. "You don't have to go to the big cities to see how upset people are about this unelected, super-rich person tearing down the government, when he was not elected to do so."
Leonard said Tesla is the underpinning of Musk's wealth and reputation and a huge part of why he has money to buy a presidency.
"It also represents the illusion of his great business sense," she said. "If he was to run the country like a business, beware, because he's running his business into the ground."
Heck held a sign bearing a likeness of Musk that said, "I am Stealing from You."
"I think it's important for those of us who love the U.S. to stand up and say so and not let the bullies destroy our democracy," Heck said, when asked why she was there Saturday.
Waving a small American flag, Heck, 72, said millions of people in the U.S need the government services that are being cut, and they will understand that when it is all gone.
"I'm so full of anger and frustration and fear," she said. "I don't see our Maine delegation, other than Rep. Chellie Pingree, conducting town halls. I've asked Sen. Angus King's office many times. I've talked to staff to have him speak to us in a town hall. I don't even care if it's on Zoom. Why aren't they speaking to us, telling us the truth, because conservative media and social media is surrounding us. There is no liberal bias in the press."
Heck said what makes her crazy is that Congress knew what was going to happen in advance with the Project 2025 document, yet members continue to pretend its business as usual in governing.
"They've given up their power," she said.
Wearing all black, Joanna Linden, 67, of Waterville, said she was dressed in mourning.
"Elon Musk donated millions to the Trump campaign," she said, "and he's been set free inside the government to wreck everything that provides services to regular people, and we're losing our democracy because of him."
Retired educator Linda Woods, 73 and also from Waterville, held a sign that read, "This Musk Stop."
"Our forefathers set up this whole separation of powers system with checks and balances, thoroughly outlined," Woods said. "He's trampling all over it as if it doesn't exist. I don't understand why someone is not doing something to stop him."
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