Long Beach and Lakewood, California
“I was on my way to another anti-Elon protest,” a woman named Nati said, while holding two signs at a Supercharger location in Lakewood. “I had to stop here when I saw everyone out.”
As Tesla owners pulled in and out, around 100 people stood on the sidewalk protesting. Most Tesla owners remained in their cars or went into nearby stores, largely avoiding the large crowd chanting, “This is what Democracy looks like,” and waving at passing cars that honked in support.
A man who asked to be identified as Sam set up a folding table and sold anti-Musk and Trump goods to passersby, though most at the Supercharger had brought their own homemade signs and wore shirts with “Gulf of Mexico,” and “Biden Harris,” emblazoned on them.
“I was on my way to another anti-Elon protest. I had to stop here when I saw everyone out.”
At a Tesla dealership a few miles away, in Long Beach, around 250 people lined the sidewalks on both sides of a busy four-lane road near a Home Depot and Costco that is packed on the weekends. As drivers drove past, people honked, cheered, and pumped their fists out their car windows, showing support.
The protests in Long Beach were peaceful, with protestors remaining on public property, cheering as people honked in support, but a tiny number of Trump and Musk supporters did show up to troll the crowds.
At the Supercharger location, a family decided to engage the protesters, yelling that they were “stupid. ” Their young daughter, who looked to be around ten years old, screamed profanities at the protesters. A pair of police SUVs were parked across the street, keeping an eye on things, and one lone Musk supporter lingered nearby holding a sign thanking Musk.
An anti-Tesla protester who asked not to be identified said that she’d been at another protest in Long Beach in late February when a truck driver rolled down his window and tried to pepper spray the protesters. No one was hurt, but the woman said that it did concern her. “You just don’t know how people are going to respond to exercising your right to free speech,” she said.
— Abigail Bassett
