Elon Musk defies the lockdown and faces arrest

Elon Musk is facing arrest. The CEO of Tesla has engaged in a legal battle with Alameda County, California, which by persisting in maintaining the lockdown effectively prevents the Tesla factory in Freemont from resuming operations. All this while California has given the go-ahead for the resumption of activities. 

On Twitter, Elon Musk has made it known that he will not comply with the county’s demands, he will reopen the factory, he will stand alongside his workers, and if the authorities intervene, he will be the only one arrested: 

Tesla is restarting production today against Alameda County rules. I will be on the line with everyone else. If anyone is arrested, I ask that it only be me.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2020

The legal battle of Elon Musk

In order to reopen his factory, Elon Musk filed a lawsuit against the county. The complaint clearly reads the provisions of the governor of California allowing “critical infrastructure” to continue working. However, the County where the Freemont plant is located has decided to maintain the restrictive measures, without exception for Tesla.

Nevertheless, Tesla itself has presented a manual of more than 30 pages in which it explained how it intends to comply with all safety measures necessary to ensure the health of workers, preventing the risk of infection with Coronavirus. 

The situation has become unacceptable for the CEO of Tesla, especially since the other car factories in the United States are reopening, while Tesla, according to local authorities, should still wait. 

The diatribe over the reopening of the Tesla factory is only Elon Musk’s latest vicissitude with respect to the Coronavirus outbreak. 

The first encounter was decidedly “superficial”, with Musk telling his employees that there was a greater chance of dying in a car accident than of Covid-19. Then the outbreak of the pandemic and the lockdown clearly changed his perception and the tycoon made gestures of solidarity and technical support. 

However, the clash with the authorities was already evident in recent days when Musk called the restrictive measures “fascist”.

The United States is actually the most affected country in the world by the Coronavirus. And it is probably also the state that will have to face the most serious economic and social consequences because the lockdown has led to a short increase in unemployment. This is one of the reasons why the reopening of factories and the resumption of production can no longer wait. Not even a giant like Tesla is exempt from the risk of crisis.