Protest group projects Musk gesture onto German Tesla factory

“Heil Tesla”? U.K.-based ‘Led By Donkeys’ protestors latest to jump on automaker CEO for odd move at Trump inauguration

  • A protest group just pulled off a stunt projecting an image of Elon Musk onto the side of a German Tesla factory
  • The photo was a freeze-frame of that gesture Musk made after Trump’s inauguration
  • The automaker is becoming more and more tied to the identity of its chief executive

Unless you’ve been living under an especially virulent rock, you know the world’s richest man, who also happens to be at the helm of an enormous electric-car company, has been spending time currying favour with the newly minted President of the United States. The deep car connection demands coverage on this site — and explains the presence of this post, in case any of our readers are so moved to tell us to “stick to cars” and not news related to the current administration.

A group of activists in the U.K. last night teamed up with a similar group in Germany to project an image of Elon Musk on to the side of a Tesla Gigafactory in Berlin. What image? Well, none other than the one of Musk making a questionable hand gesture after speaking at a celebration of Donald Trump’s inauguration as America’s 47th president. In addition to the photo, the word ‘Heil’ was also projected in Tesla-esque font alongside the factory’s main building signage, as if to read “Heil Tesla.”

“Musk is using his wealth from Tesla to back far-right parties and degrade democracy,” a spokesperson for the activist group, Led By Donkeys, told a local news agency. “He shouldn’t be surprised if people don’t fancy driving round in his cars for much longer.” The group’s German counterparts are called Centre for Political Beauty.

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