SOUTH ST. LOUIS COUNTY 鈥 More than 100 protesters lined South Lindbergh Boulevard on Saturday, holding signs blasting billionaire Elon Musk鈥檚 efforts to downsize U.S. government spending and chanting slogans urging his departure.
The crowd drew regular honks and cheers from passersby, even in this relatively conservative corner of 蜜芽传媒 County.
It was the first protest for Ryan Walsh, an engineer from Arnold. 鈥淚鈥檓 really not happy with what鈥檚 going on around us, in the government, with Elon Musk,鈥 Walsh said. 鈥淚鈥檝e got family members threatened with layoffs in the VA. And my congressmen don鈥檛 seem to care.鈥
It was just one of three protests against the Trump administration鈥檚 cost-cutting campaign on Saturday, stretching from the Gateway Arch to the Tesla dealership in Chesterfield.
They coincided with gatherings nationwide against Musk, who President Donald Trump has tasked with streamlining a federal workforce Trump believes is inefficient and working against his agenda.
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Musk, whose ownership of Tesla has made him the world鈥檚 richest man, has responded to the mandate with gusto, taking teams of young engineers into federal agencies and calling for billions of dollars in cuts to spending and personnel.
About 50,000 employees have been fired so far, according to . At least 170,000 more are on the chopping block. Though many of those are being contested in court.
The Musk effort has also pushed the government to cancel contracts, especially those with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and to offload real estate, including 蜜芽传媒-area buildings.
The day of protests in 蜜芽传媒 began downtown in front of the Arch, where hundreds gathered with labor leaders representing federal workers and a slew of local politicians to protest the cuts to the federal workforce.
They said Musk is an oligarch out to destroy the middle class. And they promised to fight an executive order Trump signed Thursday stripping more than 1 million workers of collective bargaining rights.
Fred Redmond, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, said the attack on federal unions, which have been a key part of the resistance to the administration, would spread to the private sector if left unchecked.
鈥淥ur children and grandchildren are going to hold us accountable for what we did in this moment,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his is a fight for the very soul of our country.鈥
Others in the crowd roared their approval in a series of chants.
Deb Cottin, of 蜜芽传媒, was on hand to support the workers. She said the Trump administration had needlessly villainized good people doing important jobs.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a farce,鈥 she said.
Tyler Wilson, who works in local politics, lamented the cuts already made. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 50,000 people who lost the jobs that feed their families,鈥 he said.
Back on South Lindbergh, Sean Miller said he organized the protest because he is himself affected by the cuts.
鈥淚t could be my Social Security at risk, my Medicare,鈥 he said as protesters chanted and cars honked behind him.
Miller, from south 蜜芽传媒, has muscular dystrophy. He works part time as a receptionist at a local healthcare office, and he needs every bit of the cash he has coming in, he said.
鈥淚f I lost even part of my Social Security, I鈥檇 be in deep do-do,鈥 he said.
More showed up after noon at the Tesla dealership on Chesterfield Airport Road, south of Interstate 64.
One dealership employee estimated almost 200 there on the sidewalk.
By mid-afternoon, the protesters were gone.
But eight Cybertrucks were still lined up there in the south side of the dealership鈥檚 parking lot.
They blocked the view, the employee said, of the protesters from the showroom.
Employees at the Tesla dealership in Chesterfield lined up Cybertrucks along the sidewalk on Saturday, March 29, 2025, blocking the view of Musk protesters.聽
Post-Dispatch photographers capture hundreds of images each week; here's a glimpse at the week of March 16, 2025. Video edited by Jenna Jones.
