With a pair of Cybertrucks as their backdrop, hundreds of demonstrators Tuesday night protested electric automaker/billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to slash and restructure the federal government outside the Tesla dealership in Lisle.
Carrying homemade signs that read “Send Elon to Mars on a Starship rocket” and “This Musk stop,” people lined the sidewalk in front and on either side of the 3200 Ogden Ave. business as they shouted chants like “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Elon Musk has got to go” and “Love, not hate, makes America great.”
Several area organizations teamed up to stage the “Tesla Takedown DuPage” event, including the Democratic Party of DuPage County, Democratic Women of DuPage County, Indivisible Illinois, Indivisible Batavia Aurora Area, Indivisible DuPage, Indivisible Naperville and Indivisible West Suburban Chicago.
“We’re in a full-on constitutional crisis,” Reid McCollum, chair of the DuPage Democratic party, said. “The rallying call was to stand up against Elon Musk. We have nothing against electric vehicles as Democrats but when you have an unelected billionaire and an authoritarian strongman dismantling our constitution, there needs to be a response.”
For weeks, groups have organized anti-Tesla protests across the U.S. in hopes of galvanizing opposition to Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and energizing Democrats still demoralized by Donald Trump’s November victory. Earlier this month, a similar “Takedown Tesla” protest took place in downtown Chicago, drawing hundreds.
Protesters also have gathered at Tesla dealerships in Orland Park and Libertyville in recent weeks.
In the first two months of Trump’s second term, DOGE officials have embarked on a sweeping push to downsize the U.S. government, from directing thousands of federal job cuts to dismantling federal agencies. Meanwhile, last week, Trump shopped for a new Tesla on the White House driveway to show his support for the electric vehicle company as it faces blowback from Musk’s work to advance the president’s political agenda.
For Naperville resident Jenny Miles, Tuesday’s demonstration was the latest opportunity to speak out on what’s been a personal protest against Musk for weeks. Miles, 52, started picketing Tesla in Lisle on her own in mid-February, she said.
“I was here by myself … in the snow for like an hour,” she said. Since then, Miles has started a Facebook group and others have joined the grassroots effort, she said. They now picket outside the dealership from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. every Saturday.
Miles, who called herself an “accidental organizer,” said, “It’s my favorite hour of the week.”
“Is it going to make a difference? I don’t know. But at least I’m doing something.”
As Maddie Olivieri, who grew up in DuPage County, joined Tuesday’s crowd, the 28-year-old said she’s been wanting to protest and demonstrate.
“I was really excited to see that there was something happening (near) Naperville because we feel far removed from (Chicago) but we can still make a change,” she said. “There’s a lot of people that are really upset by Musk and by other directives.”
A small group of Trump and Musk supporters also peppered the crowd. One counterprotester waved a large, pink “Women for Trump” flag.
In a statement released Tuesday, DuPage County Republicans Chairman Kevin Coyne, a former Naperville City Council member, took aim at the protest.
“It is ridiculous that the DuPage Democrats are harassing and intimidating a local business that has contributed significantly to the village of Lisle’s economy. … This thinly veiled attempt by DuPage Democrats to cancel and scare a local business over political differences is repugnant,” the statement read. “Americans are done with it and, increasingly, done with the Democratic Party.”
Tesla opened its Lisle dealership four years ago. It took over what was formerly a Hummer dealership.
As protesters stood outside the dealer, cars and trucks driving by honked. The crowd cheered back. Standing among the demonstrators was Paula Deacon Garcia, a DuPage County Board member and president of the Democratic Women of DuPage County, who called the turnout “so invigorating.”
“There are so many people that (have said), ‘Thank god we’re finally doing something like this,’” Garcia said. “We’re actually being heard. We feel like our voices are being heard. … You can hear by all the honking, that people are on our side.”
The Associated Press contributed.
