About 40 Toledo residents gathered along the overpasses of I-475 to send a message to tech billionaire Elon Musk.
“I think Elon has the sledgehammer and is coming into our government agencies and shredding them,” said Melissa Portala, a Toledo resident who organized the event.
From 4:30 p.m. until about 6 p.m., Ms. Portala and others braved the cold weather with signs that said “Stop Elon’s coup,” “Elon stole your data,” “Elon is a terrible president,” and “Hey Elon, fork you.”
Westbound traffic could see the signs on the overpasses at Delaware Avenue, Auburn Avenue, Sherbrooke Road, and Bowen Road.
Although Mr. Musk is not the president, he heads the Department of Government Efficiency, which is tasked with cutting regulations and expenditures deemed “wasteful.” DOGE is a department created by President Donald Trump, and since it is not a government agency, Mr. Musk did not need to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
In the past month, the department has taken a number of federal actions, including the termination of DEI training grants in the Department of Education, stopped the money flowing to the U.S. Agency for International Development, and canceled federal agencies’ subscriptions to media outlets.
When asked why the group was specifically calling out Mr. Musk, rather than any of the other Trump nominees, she said that she felt Mr. Musk was “doing Trump’s dirty work,” adding that she thinks even the people who voted for Trump didn’t realize what his role would be.
Ron Murphy, president of the Greater Toledo Republican Club, said the protest came as no surprise.
“Elon campaigned with Trump,” Mr. Murphy said. “A large part of why Trump won was because of younger voters, and I believe Elon helped win those younger voters.”
Mr. Murphy said he thinks Mr. Musk has done a great job with DOGE so far and is excited to see what’s next.
“He’s uncovering wasteful spending, why would people be opposed to that?” Mr. Murphy said. “It’s money being spent on ridiculous things with taxpayer money.”
Ms. Portala said she hopes activists in other cities will see their demonstration and take their own stand.
“I hope it causes people to question what we are doing,” she said. “Protesting is how the voice of the people is heard.”
First Published February 12, 2025, 12:27 a.m.
