Last weekend, “Tesla Takedown” protests specifically targeted Tesla showrooms nationwide to express disapproval of CEO Elon Musk. Musk has led efforts to execute mass federal workforce layoffs and reduce the influence of government agencies. Amidst declining Tesla sales this quarter, Musk has vowed to retaliate against the company’s critics. Meanwhile, the FBI has established a task force to investigate acts of vandalism and other incidents directed at the company.

The protests extend beyond Musk, aiming at both Trump and Musk, whom the Hands Off website rightly accuses of “closing Social Security offices, dismissing essential workers, removing consumer protections, and weakening Medicaid.” The Verge’s Mia Sato reports from Manhattan’s Bryant Park in New York City, where she captured a video that shows a massive turnout. Despite unclear numbers, she describes it as “packed from wall to wall” even though the weather is unfavorable with rain and unpleasant conditions.

My colleague Lauren Feiner, who attended the protest in Washington, DC, said the protest there “is very big, thousands here around the Washington monument.” She described it as “very peaceful and orderly,” with attendees listening quietly to the speakers, occasionally chanting in response.

Jessica Toman, who went to the protest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, texted the above image to me. A person posting images of the same protest on Bluesky guessed that protesters numbered in the thousands.

It looks like a similar story in Boston, where “thousands” are seen in this video from today:

Fox 9 Minneapolis-St. Paul posted aerial footage of a massive crowd gathered at the State Capitol building in St. Paul, Minnesota:

Demonstrators gathered in massive numbers in Daley Plaza in Chicago, Illinois, too, where a CBS Chicago livestream showed what looked like many thousands of people streaming from one side of the street to another for many blocks while this story was being written. Protests are also taking place overseas, in cities like Berlin, Germany and London, England.

It’s not just major cities. Hundreds appear to have shown up to protest in cities like St. Augustine, Florida, which the US Census Bureau estimates has less than 16,000 people, and Riverhead, New York, where only about 36,000 people live. Cars honked in apparent support of a protest in Manhattan, Kansas (under 54,000 residents), according to the Bluesky user who posted this video:

A similar scene plays out in this video, apparently taken in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, a town of fewer than 4,000 people, today:

Here’s a gallery with some more images taken by Sato, Toman, and The Verge’s Chris Welch: