Activists representing the Tesla Takedown movement gathered to protest in front of the Santana Row Tesla dealership on Nov. 5. This action preempted a Nov. 6 vote in Austin, Texas by Tesla shareholders that will decide whether or not to award CEO Elon Musk a pay package worth roughly $1 trillion in Tesla stock.
The pay package was passed by Tesla shareholders on Nov. 6, shortly after the protest.
Video by Sango Levonian La Voz Staff.
Transcript:
0:01
[Ashley Ortiz (in background)]
Trillionaires for better ballrooms. I want to see more gold, more marble. I would like to see diamond on the shitter.
0:12
[Other activist]
It’s I, Elon the world’s first trillionaire.
0:18
[Ortiz (in background)]
Billionaires united will never be indicted.
[Group]
Billionaires united will never be indicted
0:29
[Ortiz (in background)]
Wealthcare, not healthcare.
0:35
[Ortiz]
Right now in Austin, they are discussing at their AGM meeting that trillion dollar pay package that they want to give to Elon Musk and we are here to really urge shareholders that we know are dining in Santana Row and shopping in Santana Row: vote no at least tomorrow on that package and really kind of show Tesla that we want Musk out and for the future of their company and SpaceX and xAI, it’s going to be within their best interest to not try to turn this evil fascist Nazi into a trillionaire.
1:08
[Greg Spooner]
A quick summary of what happened today. A group of us concerned citizens activists gathered here down near Santana Row and formed a small group of billionaires and concerned citizens and marched on over to Santana Row and held a little award ceremony for the winner of the slogans that we came up 1with in a little contest for Elon Musk, kind of capturing the harms that he’s doing and we held that little ceremony in front of the Tesla dealership and gave an award to our own Elon Musk.
The basic idea of a disruptive action is that you incur a price that has to be paid by the target. In this case, Tesla and Musk we’re disrupting their business. We’re giving them a hard time. They’re trying to do things that we consider to be terrible and we are extracting a small price here in Santa Clara and Santa Jose.
2:10
[After being asked to leave, Ortiz and others speak with mall security]
2:36
[Ortiz]
Admittedly, when it comes to expecting people, I make actions and I make events, but a lot of times I’m not expecting people to RSVP. I’m just hoping that they see that time and place and know where to go just to show up. So at the end of the day, I can do a lot of disrupting with five people and big signs and a lot of noise, and the numbers are great to have, but when you’re here dressed up like we are, I don’t think we need big numbers to do big disruptions.
3:08
[Ortiz (in background)]
We have to show some solidarity plus solidarity. How about we let Musk hold that sign?
I think what we did was great. We were still able to do our award show, which I think that that was the big, I think real-
[Other Activist]
And we got some passerby to hold a sign for us.
[Ortiz]
I didn’t expect him to go for it, but I’m so glad he did. I’m so glad he went for it. But one also, that was the big risky thing. We don’t usually hang out in front of the Tesla showroom, so you’re doing that, disrupting them.
3:37
[JP Chand]
There’s Tesla take down events all over the place. We just had relatives visit from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and they’re blocks from a Tesla dealer and say there’s protesters there every weekend. I believe they’re all over the United States, at least where there’s Tesla dealers.
3:56
[Ortiz (in background)]
That’s how I knew we’re raising the temperature, we’re causing more disruption, and that’s exactly what we wanted and we did that quick.
4:05
[Ortiz]
I work around Stanford and I see a lot of students in general like San Jose State. Some of them feel a little bit apathetic or a little bit unsure, and I absolutely understand that.
I would love to see y’all activated and joining other folks out here and in-person actions, getting plugged in and creating community pods, getting connected together. Until this gets better, it’s going to get worse. But also y’all’s future, this is what is going to be important. I want y’all to see that there is a future. There are people who are fighting for it. We would love for y’all to join us and because I think that your voices are truly the ones that are going to be the most important and the louder that y’all get, I feel like is going to be the best thing.
