Two activists in Manhattan wound up in handcuffs Tuesday after they vandalized a Tesla dealership as part of an explicit Earth Day protest against the company’s founder, billionaire-turned-“government efficiency” official Elon Musk.
Activists from Extinction Rebellion NYC performed a surprise protest against Musk outside the Tesla shop, 860 Washington St. in Soho, just after noon on April 22.
Demonstrators took spray cans and began spraying anti-Musk messages over the windows of the dealership, writing “DOGE” with a cross through it, “F**k Elon,” and “we do not consent.” Prospective buyers and bystanders looked on with mouths agape as the demonstrators scrawled their messages in green and red spray paint.
The vandalism sought to make a statement against Musk, who President Trump appointed as leader of the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” (DOGE) to slash funding and staffing deemed wasteful at numerous government agencies. The demonstrators believe Musk has a seemingly unfiltered role in government without having been duly elected or vetted through a traditional advice-and-consent process like traditional cabinet members.
Cops then moved to apprehend another vandal, who showed his paint-covered hands to police, saying tongue-in-cheek, “You caught me red-handed.”
Protesters appeared to have the last laugh, however, revealing that they used non-destructive paint that could be easily washed away.
Extinction Rebellion, a global environmental movement, said the vandalism was a necessary act to send a strong message to the Trump administration.
“As democratic rights get eroded, the time for niceties is long since past. Mass marches will not save us. Trump knows this. Trump counts on this. We have been unable to stop him from tearing our institutions apart, just as we have been helpless to avoid the climate breakdown, as the world dies around us,” Extinction Rebellion said in a statement. “The social contract between the government and its citizens is broken. We refuse to be bystanders like the Democrats, we refuse to wait for this emergency to proceed beyond the point of no return.”
