Chester County protesters join global demonstration against Tesla CEO Elon Musk

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Waving signs and cheering in response to beeps from people driving by, more than 400 people protested Elon Musk and President Donald Trump’s administration Saturday at the Tesla dealership in Devon, Chester County.

The rally was one of hundreds worldwide, organized as part of a global day of action targeting Musk, Tesla’s CEO and majority shareholder, and the policies he’s enacted as head of the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE.

Tesla did not respond to WHYY News’ request for comment. 

Janet Gilbert, an organizer of the Devon event, said it’s the sixth or seventh Saturday of the grassroots protest at the local Tesla dealership. 

“I think that Elon Musk is a very negative influence for our country. I am horrified at the influence his money had on our elections,” she said. “He was basically bribing people in Pennsylvania to vote for Trump. He was running this lottery to bribe people to vote for Trump. And I think it really worked. I think it really got a lot of conservative young folk out to vote. And I don’t think that people with billions and billions of dollars should be able to have such an outsized influence on our democracy.”

Gilbert, 47, of Berwyn, said the first Saturday protest at the Devon Tesla dealership was a cold day in February. She didn’t see anyone else at first. 

“I thought, ‘Am I going to be doing this on my own?’” she said. “And so I held up my sign, and like five other people popped out of the bushes because they were obviously a little nervous about being the first one out. And so we had 10 [people] that week.”

Last week, Gilbert said, the number of protesters had grown to more than 200. This week, it was more than double that number.

The multigenerational crowd who lined Lancaster Avenue in front of the Tesla dealership Saturday morning had a number of different concerns about Musk’s influence in the government and the Trump administration’s actions in recent weeks.

“Personally, I am very offended at the idea that an unelected official has been determining and breaking all of the federal departments without being voted into office or being reviewed by the Senate, and breaking departments that were all created by the Congress,” said Cynthia Sherbin, 66, of the Malvern area. “He does not have the right to be the decider of the purse. It’s Congress that is the decider.”

Sherbin said she is applying for Social Security this spring, and worries DOGE will attempt to privatize Social Security and Medicare.

“Many people really rely on their Social Security for survival, and rightfully so,” she said. “And the idea of having it be that those individuals will be in peril is really a wrong idea. It’s not an American idea. It’s not the way we are.”

Multiple protesters told WHYY News they fear DOGE will gut or interfere with Social Security.

“The past couple months, it’s like holding my breath when I wake up in the morning,” said Kathleen Martin, 65, of Delaware County. “It’s supposed to be in my bank account, and if it’s not I don’t know what I’m going to do. I have to go into my IRA, which is now less because of the stock market tanking.”

Donna Oliver, 79, of Devon, was protesting because she wanted to do something apart from writing to her legislators.

“I just feel like we’re losing our country,” she said. “It scares me.”

Oliver was encouraged, though, by the enthusiastic response from drivers passing by the protest.

“From the honks and stuff, there’s a lot of people that agree with us,” she said. “I’m hoping people learn how to vote a little more intelligently in the future.”

Sage Krombolz, 28, and Phil Sozanski, 29, of Devon, brought their 4 ½-month-old son to the demonstration.

“We’re teaching him what it means to be a member of a democracy,” Krombolz said of their son. “And also, someday, he’ll ask us what we did when Trump was trying to drive our country into the ground, and we can tell him that collectively, as a family, we stood up and resisted.”

Sozanski said he thinks protesting Tesla dealerships is an effective way to push back against Musk’s actions in the federal government.

“I’m just not happy with what Elon is doing. He’s cutting spending where it doesn’t need to be cut. I think this is a good way of protesting,” he said. “Coming to the dealerships where he makes a lot of his money, on the day that cars are sold the most, and making people feel a little awkward about coming into the Tesla dealership and test driving cars and stuff like that. So I think it kind of hits him in the wallet.”

Krombolz said she is worried about the current administration’s “irreversible impacts to the environment” and how that will affect their son’s future. Sozanski, for his part, is concerned about Trump’s executive order aimed at eliminating the Department of Education.

Saturday’s protests come amid a rise in incidents of vandalism against Tesla cars and attacks on Tesla owners.

This week, Newtown Township Police identified four juveniles accused of trashing a Cybertruck in Newtown Township. Another Bucks County incident involving alleged vandalism of a Tesla vehicle was reported to Doylestown police.

In the United States and Canada, there have been at least 80 vandalism or arson incidents involving Tesla vehicles in recent months. The FBI announced Tuesday it is launching a task force to crack down on “domestic terrorism” targeting Tesla vehicles and owners.

“This is America—we believe in the right to peaceful protest. But when that protest turns into vandalism and crime, it’s no longer a protest—it’s lawlessness,” James Markley, communications director of the Republican Party of Pennsylvania, told WHYY News in a statement. “No one should have their property destroyed simply because of political disagreements. It’s telling that some people think they can silence those they disagree with by resorting to destruction instead of debate. Leaders on all sides should condemn this, and law enforcement must take it seriously.”

Gilbert, one of the organizers for the Devon protest, said she hasn’t seen any vandalism at the demonstrations she’s attended and helped organize. She said she condemns those actions.

“If I knew about it, I would stop it,” she said. “I would ban the person from the protests. And if it was serious, I’d call the police … Because the whole point is a peaceful protest. As you can see, it’s a fun atmosphere here. People are making friends. I met a guy who plays Dungeons and Dragons like me, so hopefully I can contact him and get a game going. So everything has got a great atmosphere, and I wouldn’t do anything to stop that.”