Hello @ElonMusk and Friends,
You asked who is funding and organizing the #TeslaTakedown protests. I’ve got answers for you, after going onto the streets of northern Virginia for the local protests here, seeing familiar faces from the Virginia Democratic political machine and then following the money — and the data.
AstroTurf Protest Industry
To your question, at latest count, as of 3/30, 5:30 AM:
🔴24 organizations and counting are funding and organizing the #TeslaTakedown protests and leading the very partisan propaganda campaign against Tesla, Tesla drivers, Tesla employees, Donald Trump and you. See below to see all 24 groups with their revenues, involvement, tax ID numbers and other info.
🔴These organizations have combined annual revenues of at least $124 MILLION and counting.
🔴 100% of the groups are aligned with the Democratic Party. At the protest on 3/29 at Tyco Road, in Tysons, Va., a photo I took of a “Virginia Democrats” sign in front of the Tesla dealership.
🔴 Most of these groups enjoy tax-deductible status as 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations, claiming they are “nonpartisan.” A few have PACs. The organizations have not returned requests for comment.
Database
🔴 You can see the raw data on 306 #TeslaTakedown protests in the database here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13MOGhdMPc-_lGGdEGkS0QVSayczGG7Z5rlk_LUxdCTk/edit?usp=sharing
Back story
I’m a former Wall Street Journal reporter and a propaganda expert and editor of the @DPearlProject, a journalism nonprofit named for my WSJ colleague and friend Daniel Pearl. Since Oct. 7th, I have been reporting on the anti-Jew, anti-America, anti-Israel protests and building a database, following the money. It numbers 2,000 groups now, and I am working on a web and mobile app for parents, policymakers, university administrators, law enforcement, the public and others.
I went to the #TeslaTakedown protest a week ago Saturday on Tyco Road at the Tysons, Va., and saw familiar faces from Indivisible and the Fairfax County Democratic Party, shouting for you to be deported as they stood outside the Tesla dealership. I wondered too who is organizing and funding the protests nationwide.
I got the protest details scraped from ActionNetwork and Mobilize, the two platforms aligned with the Democratic Party promoting the #TeslaTakedown protests, and built a public database of the groups behind the Tesla protest.
AstroTurf, not “grassroots”
🔴 In an article for the @FairfaxTimes, I wrote about how the local protests in Tysons, are a window into how the protests are AstroTurf, not “grassroots.” What this case reveals is the way that a multi-million dollar professional protest industry manufactures outrage in top-down political theater, agitprop, or agitation propaganda, and now criminal offenses. Here is the article: https://fairfaxtimes.com/articles/local-teslatakedown-reveals-grassroots-protests-are-astroturf/article_1c368d4d-708c-4074-b5fa-5eaf6a32ea97.html
🔴 Next step: I just got data on the April 5 #HandsOff protests and will be adding that data to the database. In addition, I am completing an analysis of the propaganda using the tools of natural language processing and content analysis.
Why is this important to report on? Because defending principles of free enterprise and individual liberty in the U.S. means allowing people to buy whatever make of car they wish without fear of danger or harassment and allowing companies to do business without fear of danger or harassment.
All, please let me know if you have any questions, ideas or recommendations.
Asra asra@asranomani.com To support the Pearl Project: http://asranomani.com/donate
24+ Groups Leading and Funding #TeslaTakedown (and counting)
🔴1. Name: 50501
Mission: protesting “anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies”
Annual Revenues: not yet found
IRS Status: Not transparent
Headquarters: Not transparent
EIN IRS Number: Not transparent
Key Leader(s): Not transparent
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: Protests
🔴2. Name: ActionNetwork
Mission: “trains and educates progressive”
Annual Revenues: unknown
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
EIN IRS Number: 46-1832144
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: Organizing platform.
🔴3. Name: Action Network Fund
Mission: “helps organizations incorporate organizing strategies”
Annual Revenues: 195025
IRS Status: 501(c)(3)
EIN IRS Number: 45-2288010
Key Leader(s): Mark Fleischman
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: Organizing platform
🔴4. Name: ActUp New York Inc.
Mission: ACT UP NY, the “AIDS Coalition To Unleash Power,” a “diverse, non-partisan group of individuals united in anger and committed to direct action to end the AIDS crisis.”
Annual Revenues: $36,411
IRS Status: not yet found
Headquarters: New York
EIN IRS Number: 13-3501884
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC demonstrations
🔴5. Name: Climate Defenders
Annual Revenues: not yet found
IRS Status: Program of the New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc., 501(c)(3)
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC protests
🔴6. Name: Climate Defenders Action Fund
Mission: Dedicated to “dismantle the fossil fuel industry”
Annual Revenues: not yet found
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: San Diego
EIN IRS Number: 82-3232098
Key Leader(s): Cecilia Aguillon, Tara Kelly Hammond, Christine James, Lester Machado, David Neison
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC
🔴7. Name: Democratic Party local and state chapters
Annual Revenues: Tallying for each chapter
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: Local presence in coordinated events
🔴8. Name: Democratic Socialists of America
Annual Revenues: $5,800,000
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: New York
EIN IRS Number: 13-3109557
Key Leader(s): Michael Grochowski
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: local protests
🔴9. Name: Disruption Project
Annual Revenues: 28480
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: Philadelphia
EIN IRS Number: 85-1066939
Key Leader(s): Wende Marshall, Kathryn Sipp, Arielle Klagsbrun, Jeffrey Ordower
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: 218/306 protests
🔴10. Name: Housing Works Inc.
Mission: providing “assistance & expertise to homeless persons living with AIDS or HIV-related illnesses”
Annual Revenues: $51,762,615
IRS Status: 501(c)(3)
Headquarters: Brooklyn, N.Y.
EIN IRS Number: 13-3584089
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC demonstrations
🔴11. Name: Indivisible Action
Annual Revenues: $9,922,930
IRS Status: Hybrid Political Action Committee
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
EIN IRS Number: 83-0529629
Key Leader(s): Elizabeth Ramey
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: National protests
🔴12. Name: Indivisible Project, organizing “Tesla Takedown” and “Hands Off” protests
Annual Revenues: 12565196
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
EIN IRS Number: 81-4944067
Key Leader(s): Leah Greenberg, Ezra Levin
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: 88/306; it has bragged it has organized 600 #HandsOff protests for April 5.
🔴13. Name: http://Mobilize.us, run by MobilizeAmerica Inc. – owned by EveryAction, the parent company of NGP VAN
Annual Revenues: not found yet
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: organizing platform
🔴14. Name: MoveOnorg Civic Action
Annual Revenues: $6,000,000
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: Beaverton, Or.
EIN IRS Number: 06-1553389
Key Leader(s): Rahna Epting
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: #HandsOff “De-escalation Training”
🔴15. Name: Not Above the Law Coalition — counted now as one but includes numerous groups
Members: As of 6/9/2023: American Oversight; Center for American Progress Action Fund; Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); Common Cause; Congressional Integrity Project; Constitutional Accountability Center; The Criminalization of Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies; Daily Kos; Defend Democracy Action Project; Defend the Vote Action Fund; DemCast USA; End Citizens United/Let America Vote; Fix Democracy First; Free Speech For People; Greenpeace USA; Indivisible; J Street; League of Conservation Voters; MoveOn; NextGen America; Our Revolution; People For the American Way; People Power United; Public Citizen; ; Secure Elections Network; Sierra Club; Stand Up America; Wisconsin Democracy Campaign; and The Workers Circle. SOURCE: press release
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: “Hands Off! Mass Call for mobilizing against Trump’s power grab”
🔴16. Name: Planet Over Profit
Annual Revenues: not yet found
IRS Status: Program of New York Communities Organizing Fund, Inc.
EIN IRS Number: not yet found
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC demonstrations
🔴17. Name: Public Citizen Foundation
Annual Revenues: $13,389,271
IRS Status: 501(c)(3)
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
EIN IRS Number: 52-1263996
Key Leader(s): Mark Chavez, director, chair; Robert Weissman, president; Sid Wolfe, founder, senior fellow;
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC demonstrations
🔴18. Name: Public Citizen Inc.
Annual Revenues: $5,728,329
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
EIN IRS Number: 23-7104508
Key Leader(s): JASON ADKINS, DIRECTOR, CHAIR; JOAN CLAYBROOK, DIRECTOR; ROBERT WEISSMAN, PRESIDENT
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: “Hands Off! Mass Call for mobilizing against Trump’s power grab”
🔴19. Name: Rise and Resist Inc.
Annual Revenues: $21,999
IRS Status: 501(c)(4) (most recent filing 2017)
Headquarters: New York, N.Y.
EIN IRS Number: 82-2188628
Key Leader(s): Ivy Arce, Martin Joseph QUinn, Jamie Ray Bauer, Jay W. Walker, Stuart Waldman
Annual Revenues: $14,588
IRS Status: Fiscal program of A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, 501(c)(3) – EIN No. 23-7379088
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: NYC demonstrations
🔴20. Name: Stand Up America Inc.
Mission: Established to “mobilize progressive Americans”
Annual Revenues: $9.867,658
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: Bethesda, Md.
EIN IRS Number: 32-0512546
Key Leader(s): Sean Eldridge, Christina Harvey, Joe Hines, Brett Edkins, Monica Garcia, Joi Rae, Brynna Quillin
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: “Hands Off! Mass Call for mobilizing against Trump’s power grab”
🔴21. Name: Swing Left
Mission: Dedicated to “help Democrats win”
Annual Revenues: $16,523,456
IRS Status: Hybrid PAC/Super PAC
EIN IRS Number: FEC Committee ID: C00632133
Key Leader(s): Yasmin Radjy
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: Protests
🔴22. Name: Tax Reformers LLC, running “http://TaxElon.us” “(“an offshoot of http://TeslaTakedown.com”)
Annual Revenues: not yet found
IRS Status: not yet found
Headquarters: Erie, Pa.
EIN IRS Number: not yet found
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: Protests
🔴23. Name: Third Act Initiative Inc.
Annual Revenues: $2,008,973
IRS Status: 501(c)(4)
Headquarters: New York
EIN IRS Number: 88-0776955
Key Leader(s): Bill McKibben, Vanessa Arcara, Akaya Windwood
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: DC, Virginia and Maryland protests
🔴24. Name: Troublemakers
Annual Revenues: not yet available
IRS Status: not yet available
Headquarters: Seattle
EIN IRS Number: not yet available
Key Leader(s): unknown
Involvement in Tesla Takedown: 224/306 protests
If you have any tips to add to this reporting, please write to me at asra@asranomani.com or DM me. Thank you.
Hello @ElonMusk and Friends,
You asked who is funding and organizing the #TeslaTakedown protests. I’ve got answers for you, after going onto the streets of northern Virginia for the local protests here, seeing familiar faces from the Virginia Democratic political machine and… pic.twitter.com/53MMDpOnOx
— Asra Nomani (@AsraNomani) March 30, 2025
Here is a summary of all the leaders, founders, and other named individuals listed in Asra Nomani’s post (Post ID: 1906281197430329459) from the section. The list is sorted alphabetically by last name, and a count is provided at the end.
List of Named Individuals:
Cecilia Aguillon (Key Leader, Climate Defenders Action Fund)
Vanessa Arcara (Key Leader, Third Act Initiative Inc.)
Ivy Arce (Key Leader, Rise and Resist Inc.)
Jamie Ray Bauer (Key Leader, Rise and Resist Inc.)
Sam Bell (Incumbent, Rhode Island State Senate district 5, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Heather Booth (Chair, Third Act)
Jabari Brisport (New York State Senate, 25th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Mark Chavez (Director, Chair, Public Citizen Foundation)
Joan Claybrook (Director, Public Citizen Inc.)
Mike Connolly (Incumbent, Massachusetts State House, 27th Middlesex district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Sean Eldridge (Key Leader, Stand Up America Inc.)
Barbara Ehrenreich (Co-chair of DSA, mentioned historically in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Brett Edkins (Key Leader, Stand Up America Inc.)
Rahna Epting (Key Leader, MoveOnorg Civic Action)
Gamal Fahmy (West Virginia University professor, mentioned in Asra Nomani’s background critique)
Mark Fleischman (Key Leader, Action Network Fund)
Emily Gallagher (New York State House, 50th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Monica Garcia (Key Leader, Stand Up America Inc.)
Leah Greenberg (Co-founder, Indivisible Project; Key Leader, Indivisible Project)
Michael Grochowski (Key Leader, Democratic Socialists of America)
Asma Gull Hasan (Pakistani-American lawyer, mentioned in Asra Nomani’s background critique)
Tara Kelly Hammond (Key Leader, Climate Defenders Action Fund)
Jeremy Haile (Co-author, Indivisible Guide, mentioned in Indivisible movement context)
Michael Harrington (Founder, Democratic Socialists of America, mentioned historically)
Christina Harvey (Key Leader, Stand Up America Inc.)
Christine James (Key Leader, Climate Defenders Action Fund)
Zuhdi Jasser (Leader, American Islamic Forum for Democracy, mentioned in Asra Nomani’s background)
Mark King (Incumbent, New Hampshire State House, Hillsborough 33rd district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Arielle Klagsbrun (Key Leader, Disruption Project)
Zohran Kwame Mamdani (New York State House, 36th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Ezra Levin (Co-founder, Indivisible Project; Key Leader, Indivisible Project)
Alex Lee (California State Assembly, 25th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Grayson Lookner (Maine State House, district 37, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Lester Machado (Key Leader, Climate Defenders Action Fund)
Bill McKibben (Founder, Third Act Initiative Inc.)
Wende Marshall (Key Leader, Disruption Project)
Patti Minter (Incumbent, Kentucky State House, district 20, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Marcela Mitaynes (New York State House, 51st district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
David Morales (Rhode Island State House, district 7, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Jason Adkins (Director, Chair, Public Citizen Inc.)
Asra Nomani (Author and journalist, poster of the content)
Jeffrey Ordower (Key Leader, Disruption Project)
Angel Padilla (Co-author, Indivisible Guide, mentioned in Indivisible movement context)
Amy Perruso (Incumbent, Hawaii State House, district 46, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Martin Joseph Quinn (Key Leader, Rise and Resist Inc.)
Brynna Quillin (Key Leader, Stand Up America Inc.)
Yasmin Radjy (Key Leader, Swing Left)
Elizabeth Ramey (Key Leader, Indivisible Action)
Julia Salazar (New York State Senate, 18th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Kathryn Sipp (Key Leader, Disruption Project)
Timothy Smith (Incumbent, New Hampshire State House, Hillsborough 17th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Phara Souffrant (New York State House, 57th district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Michael Sylvester (Incumbent, Maine State House, district 39, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Danny Tenenbaum (Montana State House, district 95, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Erika Uyterhoeven (Massachusetts State House, 26th Middlesex district, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Edwin Vargas (Connecticut State House, district 6, mentioned in Democratic Socialists of America context)
Jay W. Walker (Key Leader, Rise and Resist Inc.)
Stuart Waldman (Key Leader, Rise and Resist Inc.)
Robert Weissman (President, Public Citizen Foundation and Public Citizen Inc.)
Akaya Windwood (Key Leader, Third Act Initiative Inc.)
Sid Wolfe (Founder, Senior Fellow, Public Citizen Foundation)
Count:
Total number of named individuals: 55