Tesla Protesters Paid to Disrupt

Recent investigations reveal a curious twist in the ongoing Tesla protests. Many individuals are reportedly pocketing up to $200 each day for their participation. Finding ads that directly seek protesters is difficult. However, evidence suggests that activist groups with significant financial resources are funnelling cash to disrupt Tesla’s operations. These groups often align with larger progressive movements. Suspicions arise that these entities are using non-profits and PACs as go-betweens to distribute funds. For example, groups opposing Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory expansion received large sums from PACs linked to fossil fuel interests. These funds then support local activists protesting the factory’s environmental impact. The money trail exposes a complex web of influence.
USAID’s Role in Funnelling Money to Activist Groups
Investigative reports have long suggested that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been used as a vehicle for funding global activist organizations, including those linked to George Soros-backed NGOs. USAID, under the guise of humanitarian aid and democracy promotion, has funneled millions of taxpayer dollars into various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that align with leftist causes. Some of these same NGOs are tied to domestic protest movements, raising concerns about whether federal funds are indirectly supporting disruptive activities against private businesses like Tesla.
Us Against Media’s investigation into the recent vandalism of Tesla dealerships across the United States has uncovered a rabbit hole containing a complex network of organizations and individuals potentially orchestrating and funding these disruptive activities. Notably, connections have been identified between certain activist groups, political operatives, and media entities linked to billionaire financier George Soros and Democratic Party affiliates. One organization at the center of this controversy is Crowds on Demand, a Los Angeles-based publicity firm founded by Adam Swart in 2012. The company specializes in providing actors for various events, including protests, rallies, and advocacy campaigns. Their services encompass organizing demonstrations and supplying crowds for hire, effectively allowing clients to simulate public support or opposition. This practice has raised ethical concerns about the authenticity of such events and their influence on public opinion.
Who Is Funding the Tesla Attacks and Why?
There’s no definitive, publicly verified evidence pinpointing exactly who is funding the recent attacks on Tesla properties, but various sources and speculation offer some leads. Statements from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, indicate that the Department of Justice is investigating these incidents as acts of “domestic terrorism” and is pursuing not just the perpetrators but also those “operating behind the scenes to coordinate and fund these crimes.” Posts on X and some news outlets have pointed fingers at left-leaning groups and individuals, alleging ties to figures like George Soros and Reid Hoffman, a LinkedIn co-founder and Democratic donor. For instance, organizations like ActBlue, the Sunrise Movement, or the Indivisible Project—linked to Soros or Hoffman through funding networks like the Open Society Foundations or the Hopewell Fund—seem to be involved. Allegedly, the Soros’s Open Society Foundations granted $7.6 million to target Tesla, while others claim ActBlue, already under scrutiny for possible illegal foreign donations, is channelling money to these efforts. I’ll just throw in a legal note to say that there haven’t been independently verified proof like financial records or legal filings tying specific funds to the attacks.
George Soros funnelled $7.6 million to one of five groups Targeting Tesla
Elon Musk says five radical groups are behind the coordinated vandalism attacks on Tesla properties as part of a campaign against the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Washington-based non-profit Indivisible Project received over $7.6 million from George Soros’ Open Society Foundations between 2017 and 2023, according to the New York Post. It has coordinated a cross-country protest against Musk, empowering “grassroots” affiliates to “stop the Trump-Musk coup,” according to its website. The group posted a toolkit for a “Musk or US March Recess” demonstration that included graphics for signs reading: “Deport Musk” and “Fire Elon Musk.”
Democratic Socialists of America has posted videos of its members protesting outside Tesla buildings and made anti-Musk posts on its various social media platforms. Philadelphia-based group Disruption Project, together with the Action Network, helped organize “Tesla Takedown” last month, encouraging consumers to “sell your Teslas; Dump your stock.” New York-based group Rise & Resist organized protests against Musk and published a social media “toolkit” on its website linked to “Tesla Takedown.” Seattle-based environmental organization Troublemakers has been involved in “Tesla Takedown” events at Tesla dealerships.  On their website, they urge people to dump Tesla stock and claim “Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk.”
The “why” seems tied to Elon Musk’s political alignment with Donald Trump and his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which aims to slash federal spending—a move that’s angered some progressive and environmentalist factions. Its important to note that attacks surged after Musk joined Trump’s administration in early 2025, with incidents like Molotov cocktails thrown at Tesla dealerships in Oregon, Colorado, and South Carolina, and vandalism of 80+ vehicles in Canada. Musk’s shift from a green-tech icon to a Trump ally has flipped Tesla’s image for some, making it a symbol of political backlash rather than just an electric car company. Protests and violence, including arson in Las Vegas and shootings in Oregon, align with this timeline, suggesting a motive rooted in opposition to Musk’s influence in Trump’s government rather than Tesla’s business itself.
The Link between the USAID and Soros
It is also important to note that one of the biggest losers from cessation of USAID is George Soros and his myriads of NGOs that have had to take their begging basket to Brussels. George Soros, the guy with the Open Society Foundations (OSF) and over $32 billion to play with since 1979, has his reach all over the world. He’s tosses money into elections, rattles governments, and destabilizes economies, sugarcoating it by saying it’s for good. Long known as a top donor to progressive district attorneys across the U.S, now, his son, Alex Soros, controls the empire, contributing over $720,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in 2020.
The Trump administration is turning up the heat on George Soros’ soft power empire amid revelations of his Open Society Foundations’ close-knit links to and alleged profiteering off USAID. Musk and Trump have claimed USAID acted as a “slush fund” for Soros to finance leftist activism, including protests against Tesla in 2025.  USAID was Soros’s “secret cash cow” for global influence—buying politicians, media, and unrest. Yet Open Society Foundations claims that it’s privately funded by Soros, not USAID, and calls such reports “manifestly false” (per their February 2025 statement). The Trump administration’s USAID purge, now under Secretary Marco Rubio’s oversight, aims to realign aid with U.S. interests, implicitly targeting this alleged Soros link.
USAID, established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy, is the U.S. government’s primary vehicle for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance, with a budget historically averaging around $20-40 billion annually. Soros, a billionaire “philanthropist”, has funnelled over $32 billion into Open Society Foundation since the 1980s to support so-called democracy, so-called human rights, and progressive causes worldwide. USAID has either directly funded Open Society Foundations or collaborated with Soros-backed groups to advance shared controversial or ideologically driven agendas.
USAID: Soros’ secret cash cow
The earliest documented interaction dates to 1993, when a Soros Foundations quarterly report noted a cooperative agreement with USAID for the Soros Foundations Management Training Program. This initiative trained professionals in Eastern European countries like Poland and Bulgaria, marking an initial collaboration. Fast-forward to the 2000s, and a notable example emerges: USAID and Soros’s International Renaissance Foundation reportedly partnered during Ukraine’s 2003-2004 Orange Revolution, with USAID spending $54.7 million in 2003 and $34.11 million in 2004 on democracy promotion in Ukraine, per government records.
Under the Obama administration (2009-2017), the relationship deepened. A 2017 Heritage Foundation report claimed USAID made Open Society Foundations a “main implementer” of its aid, tying funds to progressive stances on issues like LGBTQ rights and drug decriminalization. Judicial Watch, a conservative watchdog, uncovered documents in 2018 showing USAID sponsored Soros’s agenda in Guatemala (roughly $100 million from 2015-2018) and funded the East-West Management Institute—linked to Open Society Foundations —with over $270 million over 15 years for judicial and civil society projects in places like Albania and Georgia. These figures come from USASpending.gov.
USAID’s 2025 budget was proposed at nearly $30 billion by the Biden administration before Trump’s freeze in January 2025 via Executive Order 14169. Elon Musk and the Heritage Foundation, revealed that this money flowed to Soros-aligned NGOs, citing examples like $31.2 million to East-West Management Institute in Financial Year 2024 alone. In Albania, a Soros-USAID collaboration allegedly spent $60 million (2000-2015) on judicial reforms that critics say bolstered the Socialist Party, though Open Society Foundations claims independence in its funding decisions.
Written By Tatenda Belle Panashe