"We're here every Saturday"

It's the first day of spring and the Americana is hopping. A pastel gazebo is being readied for photos with the Easter Bunny. Kids do cartwheels on a freshly mowed lawn. Shoppers park their Gucci bags below cafe tables to throw back a few Aperol spritzes. And about 50 people are standing under a canopy of pink trumpet trees to protest the mall's most notorious tenant. As the fountain's jets sway to their choreographed routine, the chorus of "What the World Needs Now Is Love" gives way to an urgent chant: Hey hey! Ho ho! Elon Musk has got to go!

Since February, protesters have been gathering weekly along the Americana's idealized main street as part of the worldwide #TeslaTaketown rallies. The overall goal is to tank Tesla's stock —which might be working? — but each week's headlines provide protesters with even more reasons to turn out. On this particular Saturday, protesters crafted anti-Musk messages that condemned the Trump administration's attacks on trans rights, the abduction of immigrants by federal agents, and the destruction of Social Security benefits. The vast majority of shoppers strolling past are supportive, flashing a thumbs up or leaning in to ask questions. Every 10 minutes, the Americana trolley rounds the corner — clang clang! — and passengers wave while tugging out their phones. Smiling trolley operators who point out important landmarks like the Cheesecake Factory pause their narration as they roll slowly between the Tesla showroom and a sign reading "Tesla Funds Fascism."

Carey and Dean Okrand consider themselves early un-adopters, offloading their Tesla in 2023. "We got rid of it even before the election," Dean says proudly. Before they ditched their red Model 3, the couple, who I've known for years, were spotted around town like local celebrities due to the handmade bumper sticker in their rear window that read "Elon Musk is a dick."

Like many other protesters, the Okrands have answered the current call to action by reconfiguring their entire weekend routine around the Tesla protests. The Americana showroom one day. The Burbank service center the next. That morning, the Okrands had even squeezed in a rally at the federal building in Westwood. "We're retired!" Dean exclaimed. "We're here every Saturday."

One might be shocked to learn that signs deviating from the Americana's faux Italianate typography would even be allowed at a mall owned by billionaire Rick Caruso, where workers meticulously scrape gum off the sidewalks each morning before the stores open. But technically all California malls must provide a place to protest, thanks to a 1979 California Supreme Court ruling. "California is the only state that recognizes the mall as a protest site," says Matthew Strugar, a First Amendment lawyer who has taken on many such cases. "The argument is that malls are where people go to gather now; they don’t go to parks."

These protest policies — known as time, place, and manner restrictions — must be made publicly available, but they can also be laughably draconian. By way of example, Strugar points to another Caruso mall, the Grove. After Caruso used the Grove for political rallies during his LA mayoral race, Strugar sued on behalf of activists who wanted to stage their own political rally there. (A few of my tweets were included in this lawsuit where I observed people campaigning for Caruso using lawn signs given out at the Grove's concierge desk.) The complaint details how difficult it is to protest at the Grove, including how the designated areas are located at the edge of the property, not at the center of the mall, named, ironically, the "town square."

But at the Americana, which is located in the city of Glendale, the center of the mall is technically a public space. And city officials work with the Americana to pick the time, place, and manner restrictions for the designated protest areas to keep that space truly open to the public. "The Americana's operation and maintenance of the City-owned open space is subject to these limitations," a city spokesperson told me. "The City and Americana together have selected locations where such activity may reasonably occur in balance with the residential and commercial nature of the site." Remember that the Americana also has 242 apartments above the mall, where a studio is currently available for $3600 per month. You can live at the Tesla protest!

Overall the Americana has been very welcoming, says Joel Lava, a filmmaker and creative director who has become the protest's primary organizer. The black-shirted private security officers, who stand casually on the opposite sidewalk, provided the restrictions to him: stay on the green, don't block the trolley tracks. "I showed up and introduced myself, and we discussed where we were allowed to stand," Lava says. "They were very polite and friendly." Glendale police officers, who had stationed a few patrol cars around the perimeter of the mall last Saturday, told Lava to spread the word that signs were okay but, per city law, any sticks holding up the signs must be less than 1/4 inch thick. "They were nice from the start," says Lava. "They said, it's your First Amendment right, we’re just here to protect you." And aside from a few teenagers halfheartedly flashing Nazi salutes, there haven't been any major issues. If anything, a Tesla showroom tucked away on a car-free street offers protesters exceptional protection, namely from the drivers of other vehicles.

But it is still a mall. After the first protest in February, a new construction project just happened to begin directly opposite the Tesla showroom. The fenced-off area surrounding the construction also effectively severs the protesters from the rest of the lawn-users. This is not completely unexpected: the Americana's green is often roped off for grass reclamation, temporary popup stores, or various seasonal preparations. And while this particular incursion doesn't intrude too far into the designated protest area, as a regular at the Americana, I can tell you the entire section of the green where protesters have been gathering was fully consumed by the building of Santa's Village last year — starting in October.

The protests are clearly getting to Musk, who grew so paranoid about sales at his showrooms that he turned the White House lawn into one. But the tactics he's deploying to protect his market value have gone beyond his typical anti-transit rhetoric. Earlier this month Musk falsely accused Valerie Costa, a Seattle Tesla protest organizer, of being paid by deep-pocketed donors. She was then harassed and doxxed by his followers. And last night Musk went on Fox News to threaten Tesla's critics with federal prosecution. "Those are the real villains here," he said. "The ones providing the money, the ones pushing the lies and the propaganda — we're going to go after them."

And the protests keep growing. On a March 19 call, actor and organizer Alex Winter — yes, it's Bill S. Preston, Esq.; be excellent to each other — said the movement is just getting started. "The protests will continue to grow," he said. "They will not stop until Musk is stopped. And that means more people in the streets, more people learning the facts about his attack on democracy, and more people who aren't afraid of standing up to the corruption and bullies." A global day of action is planned for this Saturday, with the goal of staging peaceful protests at 500 Tesla showrooms worldwide — including at the Americana. 🔥