Valerie Costa never expected to be directly in Elon Musk's crosshairs, but here she is.
Costa, 43, is a community organizer in Seattle who co-founded an environmental activist group called the Troublemakers. Recently, she has helped organize peaceful local protests as part of Tesla Takedown, demonstrations happening worldwide objecting to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's campaign of slashing and disrupting the federal government.
In a post on X about the protest movement, Musk claimed Costa's Seattle group was backed by ActBlue, an online fundraising platform for Democrats.
She was baffled.
"I was like, uh, we're not ActBlue-funded. We don't use ActBlue. We have no connection to ActBlue. We have like $3,000 in our bank account. I could tell you every single person who donated," Costa said.
Before Costa could figure out how to respond, Musk fired off another post. This time it was even more personal and inflammatory. It said: "Costa is committing crimes," with a video clip of her appearing on a podcast.
Musk's post provided no evidence or specific allegations, but the message was clear: Musk was falsely blaming Costa for violence directed at Tesla cars and facilities since President Trump's inauguration and Musk assumed an influential perch in the White House.
"When one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful person in the world is saying you've committed a crime, it doesn't matter what the truth is," Costa said.
Dozens of Musk fans targeted Costa with menacing direct messages, social media posts and emails. In several messages reviewed by NPR, Musk supporters said they hope federal authorities will investigate her and even threatened physical violence against her.
"At that point, I started to realize, 'Oh no, I have to protect myself," she said.
She removed as much personal information as she could from the web. Even her work email was being flooded with attacks, so she deleted the address from her consulting business website. She connected with a lawyer. Then she brought together her roommates to map out a safety plan.
"What happens if the Feds come?" she said.
Her instructions were straightforward: Don't talk to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Insist on having an attorney. Don't let law enforcement in without a warrant.
Costa is afraid that Musk will use his White House power and influence to apply more pressure.
In the face of growing protests against Tesla, Trump held an event with Musk on the White House lawn last week and vowed to label vandalism and attacks against the carmaker as domestic terrorism.
"I'll do it. I'm going to stop them. If we catch anybody doing it, because they're harming a great American company," Trump said, standing in front of a row of Teslas.
There have been a spate of arrests linked to violence against Tesla facilities. Authorities have not said any of the acts were coordinated.
Musk's posts on X, Costa said, not only amplified false theories about who is behind the protests, but also conflated peaceful protests with the violent acts. That is deeply alarming, she said.
"I took a day and was totally fearful: What do I do? How do I respond to this? And now I am so clear. I need to speak out and defend the right to protest. It's really an essential part of what it means to be American," Costa said.
Musk and the White House did not return requests for comment.
The Tesla Takedown protests are aimed at hurting the value of Tesla, the primary source of Musk's wealth, by encouraging people to boycott the company, Costa said.
As an environmentalist, it may be awkward opposing an electric vehicle maker, but her bigger concern is stopping Musk's work slashing the federal government.
"That destruction is having a direct effect on people's lives and well-being," she said.
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