Proud Boys claim they'll infiltrate Easton Tesla protest

Catch up quick: Protesters have gathered at the Easton Tesla dealership each Saturday for the past two months to voice opposition to DOGE and Musk, Tesla's CEO.

• Organizer Rick Neal, who ran for Congress in 2018 as a Democrat, tells Axios the group has grown from a dozen on their first day to around 500 on recent weekends.
• He says their goal is to create an event where "like-minded folks can find each other" and "tell Elon Musk to get out of our lives and our government."

The other side: President Trump has called Tesla protesters "sick terrorist thugs," and the FBI is investigating attacks elsewhere targeting the vehicles.

• At the Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 20, Musk dismissed the protests as "fake rallies," per Politico.

Friction point: A little-followed Truth Social account called Proud Boys of Columbus posted Tuesday that "chapters from all over the state" will be coming to Easton this Saturday.

• "We've decided this time we'll just join the crowd, maybe see what we see. Recording faces, getting names, license plates, definitely have a chat with the 'friendly' domestic terrorists so we can join their Discord and Signal groups."

Threat level: Proud Boys chapters have been involved in numerous violent clashes with police and other protesters, including several at the Ohio Statehouse in recent years.

What they're saying: Columbus Police spokesperson Nicole Jaros said in an email that CPD "monitors all protests and gatherings" and she couldn't comment further because "intelligence around these events is often sensitive."

• Neal noted members of CPD's community dialogue team — marked by bright blue vests — have been present since the group's second Tesla protest.