While the local #TeslaTakedown protest may appear spontaneous and community-driven, it is the product of a well-funded, tightly coordinated campaign led by national political organizations like the Indivisible Project, MoveOn.org, and professional protest firms. These groups use digital platforms, pre-scripted chants, pre-printed signs, and nationwide toolkits to manufacture the appearance of grassroots activism, and the messages on Tyco Road mirror the language of protests nationwide. This kind of organizing is known as “AstroTurfing”—a term used to describe top-down efforts that mimic authentic, bottom-up civic engagement.
Critics say these operations mislead the public, distort the media narrative, and erode trust in genuine democratic movements by masking partisan objectives behind a veneer of local outrage.
A protester had parked a wagon nearby with a sign, “Poster lending library.”
According to the data:
-
Groups and individuals allied with the Democratic Party have organized 100% of the protests.
-
Only about 15 organizations and their affiliates are behind all of the protests.
-
Groups involved in the #TeslaTakedown protests have combined revenues of at least $43.1 million.
-
Troublemakers, a Seattle-based professional protest organization, and the Disruption Project, a Philadelphia group that describes itself as “dedicated to supporting uprisings, resistance, and mass direct action,” have sponsored about 70%, or 220, of the protests.
-
The Indivisible Project has organized at least about 29%, or 87, of the protests.
-
Local Democratic Party chapters have organized some protests, including members' participation in the Fairfax County protest.
-
Other Democratic organizations have sponsored protests, including the AFL-CIO, MoveOn.org, Swing Left, Third Act Initiative Inc., the Democratic Socialists of America, the Fight Oligarchy Club, 50501, and Tax Reformers LLC, which organize under the platform TaxElon.us.
Third Act Initiative Inc., a Madison Avenue political nonprofit based in New York City, promoted the Tyco Road protest through its local “Rocking Chair Rebellion” chapter. It organized people aged 60 and over and promoted the protest with a call to action that said, “Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk.” For most people, the sight of senior citizens and retirees protesting seems organic and grassroots but the reality is they are part of a highly-funded and lucrative political operation. According to its 2023 tax filing, Third Act Inititative Inc. has revenues of $2 million.
