A Tesla protester targeted by Elon Musk speaks out: ‘I have to protect myself.’
Valerie Costa never expected to be directly in Elon Musk’s crosshairs, but here she is.
Costa, 43, is a community organizer in Seattle who co-founded an environmental activist group called the Troublemakers. Recently, she has helped organize peaceful local protests as part of Tesla Takedown, demonstrations happening worldwide objecting to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s campaign of slashing and disrupting the federal government.
In a post on X about the protest movement, Musk claimed Costa’s Seattle group was backed by Act Blue, an online fundraising platform for Democrats.
She was baffled.
“I was like, uh, we’re not Act Blue funded. We don’t use Act Blue. We have no connection to Act Blue. We have like $3,000 in our bank account. I could tell you every single person who donated,” Costa said.
Before Costa could figure out how to respond, Musk fired off another post. This time it was even more personal and inflammatory. It said: “Costa is committing crimes,” with a video clip of her appearing on a podcast.
Musk’s post provided no evidence or specific allegations, but the message was clear: Musk was falsely blaming Costa for violence directed at Tesla cars and facilities since President Trump’s inauguration and Musk assumed an influential perch in the White House.
“When one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the world is saying you’ve committed a crime, it doesn’t matter what the truth is,” Costa said.
Dozens of Musk fans targeted Costa with menacing direct messages, social media posts and emails. In several messages reviewed by NPR, Musk supporters said they hope federal authorities will investigate her and even threatened physical violence against her.
“At that point, I started to realize, ‘Oh no, I have to protect myself,” she said.
She removed as much personal information as she could from the web. Even her work email was being flooded with attacks, so she deleted the address from her consulting business website. She connected with a lawyer. Then she brought together her roommates to map out a safety plan.
“What happens if the Feds come?” she said.
Her instructions were straightforward: Don’t talk to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Insist on having an attorney. Don’t let law enforcement in without a warrant.
Costa is afraid that Musk will use his White House power and influence to apply more pressure.
In the face of growing protests against Tesla, Trump held an event with Musk on the White House lawn last week and vowed to label vandalism and attacks against the carmaker as domestic terrorism.
“I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them. If we catch anybody doing it, because they’re harming a great American company,” Trump said, standing in front of a row of Teslas.
There have been a spate of arrests linked to violence against Tesla facilities. Authorities have not said any of the acts were coordinated.
Musk’s posts on X, Costa said, not only amplified false theories about who is behind the protests, but also conflated peaceful protests with the violent acts. That is deeply alarming, she said.
“I took a day and was totally fearful, what do I do, how do I respond to this? And now I am so clear: I need to speak out and defend the right to protest. It’s really an essential part of what it means to be American,” Costa said.
Musk and the White House did not return requests for comment.
The Tesla Takedown protests are aimed at hurting the value of Tesla, the primary source of Musk’s wealth, by encouraging people to boycott the company, Costa said.
As an environmentalist, it may be awkward opposing an electric vehicle maker, but her bigger concern is stopping Musk’s work slashing the federal government.
“That destruction is having a direct effect on peoples’ lives and well being,” she said.
Transcript:
AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Hundreds protested outside Tesla showrooms in several cities across the country, including Washington, D.C., Boston, Colorado Springs and Austin. They also gathered outside the company’s original Silicon Valley headquarters, shouting chants, calling on people to sell their Teslas and dump their stocks. The demonstrations are part of a backlash to Elon Musk’s role in upending the federal government. Musk has been using his social media platform, X, to individually target some of the protesters. As NPR’s Bobby Allyn reports, one protest organizer saw her life turned upside down after Musk took aim at her.
BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE: Valerie Costa calls it a nightmare of notifications. She’s a community organizer in Seattle who co-founded an environmental activist group called the Troublemakers. Last weekend, Costa woke up and saw that Elon Musk had claimed on X that her group was backed by ActBlue. It’s an online fundraising platform for Democrats.
VALERIE COSTA: And I was like, we’re not ActBlue-funded. We don’t use ActBlue. We have no connection with ActBlue. We have, like, $3,000 in our bank account. I could tell you every single person that donated.
ALLYN: Before Costa could figure out how to respond, Musk fired off another post. This time, it got even more personal. It said Costa is committing crimes.
COSTA: When one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the world, is saying that you’ve committed a crime, that you’re committing crimes, it doesn’t matter what the truth is.
ALLYN: Because many of Musk’s fans believed it and joined the online pile-on.
COSTA: At that point, I suddenly started to realize, like, oh, no, I have to protect myself.
ALLYN: As often happens when Musk singles someone out online, Costa became inundated with attacks, harassment and doxing from Musk supporters.
COSTA: And I started getting threatening emails through my consulting business website, so I pulled that down.
ALLYN: Costa quickly got connected with a lawyer, and then she brought together her roommates.
COSTA: To talk about, you know, our safety as a house. What happens if, you know, the Feds come.
ALLYN: She’s afraid Musk will use his White House role to apply even more pressure. And Musk has the president’s backing. Standing in front of a row of Teslas on the White House lawn last week, Trump was asked whether he would label vandalism and violence against the carmaker as domestic terrorism.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Some say they should be labeled domestic terrorists because…
PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I will do that. I’ll do it. I’m going to stop them. We catch anybody doing it – because they’re harming a great American company.
ALLYN: There have been a handful of arrests linked to the violence against Tesla facilities. Authorities haven’t said any of these acts were coordinated. Costa says Musk is conflating peaceful protests with violent acts, and it worries her.
COSTA: I took a day where I was just, like, totally fearful. What am I going to do? How do I respond to this? And now, I’m so clear. I need to speak out and defend the right to protest. It’s really essential to part of what it means to be an American.
ALLYN: Costa says the Tesla takedown protests are about trying to hurt Tesla’s value by encouraging people to boycott the company. As an environmentalist, she admits it’s awkward protesting an electric vehicle maker, but her bigger concern is stopping Musk’s work slashing the federal government.
COSTA: That destruction is having a direct effect on people’s lives and well-being.
ALLYN: Musk and the White House did not return requests for comment.
Bobby Allyn, NPR News.
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