A few dozen protesters were trying to send a strong message — they do not support a Tesla dealership opening in the Forest City.
With signs in hand, they gathered on the sidewalk outside Tesla on Wonderland Road Saturday afternoon, as hundreds of cars honked in support as they drove by.
“There’s been a lot of, a lot of protests happening throughout the [United] States, throughout Canada, protesting Elon Musk and the Trump administration,” said Jim Koegelheide, the organizer of the London, Ont. protest. “We’ve got close to 70 people here. We’re chanting, we’re singing songs, we’re hooting and hollering, we’re having a good time and we’re getting a lot of support from the community. It’s very important that people realize how peaceful actions create positive results.”
The event called the ‘Tesla Takedown’ was deemed a protest which opposed violence, vandalism, and destruction of property.
To keep an eye on those taking a stand, a London police cruiser was parked in the Tesla lot, just a few feet away.
“We’re here for two reasons,” said Kogelheide. “One is to protest the rise of fascism that’s happened, especially south of the border. We don’t want to normalize fascist businesses like Elon Musk and Tesla in Canada. It’s very important that we make a stand to fight for our freedoms and our civil liberties.”
Kogelheide added that many people want to get involved and are worried about what’s happening across North America.
“The second message that we have is we want to inspire people to realize that we can make a stand. We can make our voices heard without causing any harm, any vandalism, by being peaceful,” he said.
A news release for the event said they, “demand that Tesla withdraw all its corporate operations from Canada, and we want local, provincial and federal officials to take the threat of Tesla seriously. To demonstrate that Canadians stand united in opposition to Tesla, we encourage local Londoners to boycott the Tesla Dealership opening on Wonderland and Southdale, and the Showroom in Masonville Mall.”
