A man was arrested after driving his vehicle outside of a Tesla dealership in Florida toward a group of protesters organized by the Democratic Progressive Caucus.
A gathering to protest against billionaire Elon Musk and President Donald Trump in Palm Beach County, where Trump’s home Mar-a-Lago is located, was interrupted Saturday when Andrew Dutil allegedly drove his black SUV onto the sidewalk and toward the more than 100 protesters. The crowd moved out of the way and no one was injured.
The suspect, who was arrested, claimed to be an employee of the Tesla showroom in West Palm Beach, and his car was later towed.
(Video Credit: WESH 2 News)
“He drove into a crowd of senior citizens,” Mark Offerman of the Democratic Progressive Caucus Palm Beach County said, according to The Palm Beach Post. “Everybody was able to move out, but two older women were really almost clipped. We immediately called the cops.”
Some with the group “Tesla Takedown” posted on the Bluesky app, contending their protests were peaceful and will continue.
@teslatakedown.com today in West Palm Beach, Florida. There were about 100 of us peacefully protesting on the sidewalk. Some jackass drive his SUV into us. He was arrested for assault. We will come out next Saturday. They will not scare us into silence.
— MiniFleur (@minifleur322.bsky.social) March 23, 2025 at 1:52 AM
We saw! Glad no one was injured and kudos for your courage
bsky.app/profile/tesl…— #TeslaTakedown (@teslatakedown.com) March 23, 2025 at 1:54 AM
“The driver of the vehicle, a Nissan Pathfinder, abruptly parked on the sidewalk where protesters had assembled and jumped out of the car, claiming his brakes and electronics had gone out, Offerman said. He told protesters to ‘leave the car alone,'” according to The Palm Beach Post.
“Upon arriving, police spoke with the driver and interviewed about five protesters, who also provided photo and video evidence of what had happened,” the outlet continued. “The man was arrested at the scene and will be charged with assault, according to a deputy from the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.”
According to the newspaper, Saturday’s demonstration was the first of six planned for every Saturday through April 26 and is organized by the Democratic Progressive Caucus.
“Mar-a-Lago is here. Trump is here. This is his home. We have big problems with the way that our government functions, and find it very anti-American,” Offerman said. “So we want to wake people up, and we’re taking on this national call.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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