Protestors against Tesla Inc's (NASDAQ:TSLA) expansion efforts at its gigafactory in Berlin on Friday attempted to storm the company's factory, damaged several of the company's EVs, and even injured several police officers.
What Happened: According to the protest organizing group Disrupt Tesla, about 800 people took part in the protests on Friday. The protestors are against the expansion of the company's facilities, which they deem to be harmful to the environment. The EV giant is aiming to double the plant's capacity for battery production to 100-gigawatt hours and car production to 1 million units annually.
"Tesla stands for labor accidents, water scarcity, deforestation, environmental pollution and exploitation here and worldwide," Disrupt Tesla alleged.
As per the Police in Brandenburg, 16 people were taken into custody as of 7 p.m. on Friday. The protestors temporarily blocked roads and rail traffic and some even climbed over the fence at Neuhardenberg airfield and damaged 24 Tesla vehicles with paint. Though several tried to enter Tesla's factory premises, they were prevented by police personnel, the police department said.
Police measures and investigations are ongoing, they added.
Tesla CEO Reacts: Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Friday criticized the actions against the company. "Something super weird is going on, as Tesla was the only car company attacked!," Musk said on X while also alleging that there is more to the attacks than what "meets the eye."
"Any idea who is orchestrating and funding this?," Musk asked in another post, hinting at a larger campaign against the company. However, he also claimed that there are a lot of protests around Germany over the week as it is "National Protest Week" in the European country.
Tesla had a one-day planned production shutdown at the factory on Friday in anticipation of the protests.
This is fake news.
Protesters did not manage to break through the fenceline. There are still 2 intact fence lines all around.
Note, this is "National Protest Week" in Germany, so there are a lot of protests for many different reasons.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2024
週五，抗議特斯拉公司（納斯達克股票代碼：TSLA）在其柏林超級工廠擴張計劃的抗議者試圖衝進該公司的工廠，損壞了該公司的幾輛電動汽車，甚至打傷了幾名警察。
發生了什麼：根據抗議組織Disrupt Tesla的數據，週五約有800人蔘加了抗議活動。抗議者反對擴建該公司的設施，他們認爲這對環境有害。這家電動汽車巨頭的目標是將該工廠的電池產能翻一番，達到100千兆瓦時，將汽車產量提高到每年100萬輛。
Disrupt Tesla稱：“特斯拉代表着這裏和全球的勞動事故、水資源短缺、森林砍伐、環境污染和剝削。”
根據勃蘭登堡警方的說法，截至週五晚上7點，有16人被拘留。抗議者暫時封鎖了道路和鐵路交通，有些人甚至爬過了諾伊哈登貝格機場的圍欄，用油漆損壞了24輛特斯拉汽車。警察局說，儘管有幾個人試圖進入特斯拉的工廠場所，但他們被警務人員阻止。
他們補充說，警方的措施和調查正在進行中。
特斯拉首席執行官的反應：特斯拉首席執行官埃隆·馬斯克週五批評了針對該公司的行動。“發生了非常奇怪的事情，因爲特斯拉是唯一一家遭到襲擊的汽車公司！，” 馬斯克在X上說，同時還聲稱攻擊的意義不止於 “眼前所見”。
“知道誰在策劃和資助這件事嗎？，” 馬斯克在另一篇文章中問道，暗示將針對該公司的更大規模運動。但是，他還聲稱，本週德國各地有很多抗議活動，因爲這是歐洲國家的 “全國抗議周”。
由於預計會有抗議活動，特斯拉計劃於週五在工廠停產一天。
這是假新聞。
抗議者未能突破圍欄。周圍還有兩條完好無損的圍欄線。
請注意，這是德國的 “全國抗議周”，因此由於許多不同的原因，抗議活動很多。
— 埃隆·馬斯克 (@elonmusk) 2024 年 5 月 10 日
