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On Saturday, March 29, approximately 100 protesters gathered near the Natick Mall in protest of CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, and the Trump administration. The protest was one of over 200 that took place around the world, and was a part of the global #TeslaTakeDown movement.
There were members of the Boston Voice of Community and Labor (BVOCAL) in attendance at the protest. BVOCAL was started shortly after President Donald Trump was sworn in as president this past January. Lisa Gallatin, a member of BVOCAL, led chants and songs during the protest.
“I think Elon Musk and President Trump are destroying our democracy and are taking away our constitutional freedoms,” Gallatin said. “We need to speak out and say this is not the country we live in.”
The protest was sponsored by the Metro Boston Indivisible Coalition (MBIC), an organization of volunteers that promotes the preservation of democracy.
“There’s a lot of intimidation right now or there are people supporting what this government has allied itself with that is very troubling,” Jeanne, an organizer from MBIC who refrained from using her last name, said. “So we can’t be afraid of it right now. We need our fear to give us courage and not to give us cowardice.”
Musk has been a senior advisor to Trump since the beginning of his second term as president. On Trump’s first day of office during his second term, Trump created the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is led by Musk.
“I think we’ve been watching two months worth of an unconstitutional assault on our government by the current president and his minions,” member of the Wayland Democratic committee J. Michael Gilbreath said. “It’s just time the people got very visible and very loud in opposition.”
DOGE has been responsible for slashing the federal workforce and government agency budget, cutting tens of thousands of jobs from federal agencies. The agencies most subject to cuts are the U.S. Agency for International Development, Voices of America and the U.S. Department of Education.
“I have two grade school age kids and we’re a one-income family,” Alisa, who refrained from using her last name, said. “Making it all the way to DC isn’t really feasible and this is close by. It seems like a small thing to do to help make our voices heard because this needs to stop.”
The protest near the Natick Mall was one of nine that happened around Massachusetts. Others were organized near Tesla superchargers and at a Watertown service station.
“I am fed up with the loss of our democracy and I want to stand up and fight back,” protester Miriam Komaromy said.
