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Signs of the times: Protests in Auburn and Worcester sending a message against Musk, DOGE [1]
['Janice Harvey']
Date: 2025-04-01
Signs of the times: Protests in Auburn and Worcester sending a message against Musk, DOGE
The Tesla charging station in Auburn is located in a parking lot directly across from the site where American rocketry pioneer and Worcester native Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid oxygen-gasoline rocket 99 years ago. Goddard, a brilliant scientist and inventor, was a true visionary, a modest man dedicated to science for the benefit of mankind.
On March 29, protesters gathered in front of the Tesla chargers to display their strong displeasure with Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency. (There had also been a protest on March 22.) The decidedly immodest and unelected Musk has roused a snoozing behemoth by threatening to gut every institution near and dear to voters and particularly raised the ire of senior citizens worried about Social Security.
The irony of holding a protest where Goddard launched his first rocket — a protest against a billionaire who aims to someday reside on Mars — was not lost on a sign holder named Jean. She said that the rocket that stands in the center of what was Goddard’s Aunt Effie’s farm stood with the protesters in solidarity.
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Jean was carrying not one but two signs: one read “DITCH DOGE” while the other read, “THANK YOU VETERANS” with a bald eagle and an American flag emblazoned on it. Her plan seemed to be to catch the attention and car honks of passersby with the colorful sign and then show them the anti-Musk placard.
A bait and switch to lure MAGA, if you will. Jean retired recently from catering, but she’s a veteran of the corporate world, where she witnessed plenty of hypocrisy, misogyny and bias as a diminutive, olive-skinned female. She harbors no love for the likes of Musk and his ilk. Most of the cars driving past the protesters honked their support, though a few middle fingers were thrown while engines were gunned to show might and fury all the way up to the red light and even right through it, according to Jean. In general, sign holders remained good-natured, though Jean logged two hours and 7900 steps chasing after the owners of those middle fingers.
“Somebody has to do it,” she mused.
Jean’s attitude seemed to be the mantra for this mix of senior citizens, trans advocates and other concerned voters willing to stand outside on a raw, damp Saturday afternoon. Signs were respectful yet firm in their intent, with messages such as “IT’S NOT RED vs BLUE IT’S BILLIONAIRES vs YOU,” “I DUMPED MY TESLA STOCK” and “DOGE=DEPARTMENT of GREED and EXPLOITATION.”
Some were more gentle, asking for rejection of fascism and declaring that Americans are “STRONGER TOGETHER.” The crowd grew as the hours passed, eventually swelling to approximately 160. At least two Auburn police vehicles were noted, along with an unmarked dark-windowed SUV. One protester mumbled that “it’s probably ICE, taking down license plates.”
There was a slight sense of uneasiness among the protesters, though their determination seemed to override their concerns. Most were people who may never have seen themselves as “activists” but now feel compelled to do more than complain while sitting on their hands. A drummer joined the gathering and for the last hour or so as protesters chanted “ Hey Hey! Ho! Ho! Elon Musk has to go!” Jean felt invigorated and “super satisfied” with the event.
“My mother passed away in 2023 at 96, and she was a staunch supporter of the rights of others,” Jean said. “She instilled in me respect for self and others and if she were alive today, she would have been right by my side.”
Former Worcester Magazine Editor Walter Crockett is a member of the resistance group, “Worcester Indivisible.” Crockett has attended several standouts in protest of the current administration and Elon Musk, including the Catholic Worker’s Friday rallies held at the Harold D. Donohue Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse in Worcester. On Saturday he was unable to attend, but the Wootown icon had a few thoughts regarding the Tesla protests.
“I think the important thing about the Tesla demonstrations is that no one around here is threatening people or property,” Crockett said. “We sympathize with Tesla owners, most of them are Democrats anyway, who were doing the right thing at the time by buying the cars. Elon Musk was just an oddity back then.
“Now he’s a full-blown intercontinental menace.”
Jean is putting together a “Protest Kit” including a two-sided sign she can reverse, one that will read “SAME TO YOU!” when someone flips her the bird. She will bring extra signs for those who join protests last minute and come unprepared. On Saturday, she and her fellow citizens shared signs and cheered as a cohesive group, deriving satisfaction from the thumbs-up they received from Tesla drivers. Clearly, this was not Jean’s last stand-out.
Said Jean: “I learned that Hondas have the best sounding horns.”
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[1] Url:
https://www.worcestermag.com/story/opinion/columns/2025/04/01/harvey-local-protests-against-musk-doge-are-picking-up-steam/82738872007/
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