Berkeley Tesla Takedown: Man arrested after 'trolling' protest
The person who was arrested had contacted The Scanner previously to share videos in which he antagonized people at Berkeley protests.
Berkeley police arrested a man Saturday during a demonstration outside the Fourth Street Tesla showroom after he brandished a stun gun at people during the event.
Limited details were available as of publication time, but a reader said he saw the "Pro-Trump counter protestor arrested at Tesla Takedown in Berkeley" at about 1 p.m.
"Not sure what happened, but heard a zap like a tazer," he wrote on the Bluesky social media app.
"Pro-trump dude was biking around and almost hitting people with his bike," another community member wrote on Bluesky. "Protesters confronted him and he whipped out a taser and stuck it in their faces and the cops saw everything and arrested him."
After publication, A. Mark Liiv shared video from Saturday's protest with TBS that filled in some of the gaps.
The footage appeared to show the counterprotester riding his bike near demonstrators on Fourth Street, two of whom then blocked his path.
(It was unclear how long he had been at the event or what may have happened before the camera started rolling.)
The video then showed the man pull out a stun gun and wave it toward the pair while activating it. Authorities said he never made contact.
In the video, a woman who had blocked the man's path appears to jerk back suddenly in response to the stun gun, and then reach out and grab a handful of the man's hair with both hands while dragging him for several steps toward the side of the roadway.
That's when police jumped in to break up the conflict as shocked onlookers watched events unfold.
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The man who was arrested Saturday also attended the Berkeley Tesla protest last weekend, community members said.
"Same bike with speakers blasting. Was wearing a Trump T-shirt and was taking video of himself making fun of the crowd last week," one witness said.
As it turned out, the man had contacted The Scanner previously to share YouTube videos in which he antagonized people at Berkeley protests.
Video from "DJ Occult" from the March 15 Tesla Takedown protest in Berkeley.
On Youtube and Instagram, he uses the handle DJ Occult.
According to booking records, his given name is Ricardo Ruiz, age 33.
Ruiz wrote on his YouTube channel that he lives in Berkeley, not far from the Fourth Street neighborhood where the protests have been happening.
"Time to give these clowns some resistance!" he wrote beneath last week's video. "They brought a whole mariachi last week they need to be stopped! Berkeley is an embarrassing place to live not gonna lie!"
Police said after publication that his official city of residence is in Lynwood, California, in Los Angeles County.
According to booking records, police arrested Ruiz on suspicion of exhibiting a weapon other than a firearm, which is listed as a misdemeanor.
He was released after arrest on a citation, police said. His first court date is set for April 22.
Berkeley Tesla protests began last month
There have been protests outside the Berkeley Tesla showroom at 1731 Fourth St. since Feb. 15, BPD said Friday in response to a Scanner inquiry.
According to a post on the Action Network website, the protesters hope their "Tesla Takedown" demonstrations will help "save lives and our democracy."
"We are taking action at Tesla to protest Elon Musk and his illegal activities," organizers wrote in relation to an event planned for March 29. "Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines. Hurting Tesla is stopping Musk. Stopping Musk will help save lives and our democracy."
"The stakes couldn’t be higher," the organizers continued. "No one is coming to save us — not politicians, not the media."
Action Network
Other groups, including Indivisible East Bay, have made similar posts online.
"Elon Musk is destroying our democracy, and he’s using the fortune he built at Tesla to do it. We are taking action at Tesla to stop Musk’s illegal coup," organizers wrote in relation to an event planned for March 30. "Tesla Takedown is a peaceful protest movement. We oppose violence, vandalism and destruction of property. This protest is a lawful exercise of our First Amendment right to peaceful assembly."
The weekly demonstration in Berkeley has grown over time, police said.
About 100 demonstrators attended the Feb. 15 event and there were "no reports of criminal activity," BPD said.
The next week, Feb. 22, the crowd had grown to 150-200 people and "remained peaceful," according to police.
13 Teslas have been vandalized in Berkeley this year
On March 1, police observed that the crowd, of about 300 demonstrators, included 20-30 people who carried backpacks and wore masks and black clothing.
During the protest that day, Berkeley police said, a uniformed officer saw one person throw rust-red paint on the store entrance and walkway before leaving the area.
Police arrested that individual later on suspicion of vandalism and being in possession of a controlled substance, BPD said.
Photographs from the March 1, 2025, "Tesla Takedown" protest on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Sally Francis
The next two weeks, March 8 and March 15, were peaceful with crowds of about 150 demonstrators, police said,
On Sunday, March 16, someone called police about a woman at the Tesla showroom who "was refusing to leave the premises, shouting profanities and obscenities at customers entering and exiting the business. Despite being asked to leave by the staff, the subject continued to engage in disruptive behavior," BPD said.
Last week, when officers arrived, they tried to get the woman to move onto the public sidewalk, according to BPD, but the "requests were met with resistance."
Police ultimately arrested her on suspicion of trespassing.
Photographs from the March 1, 2025, "Tesla Takedown" protest on Fourth Street in Berkeley. Phil Rowntree
In addition to the ongoing demonstrations on Fourth Street, police told TBS that there had been at least 13 Teslas vandalized in Berkeley since Jan. 1.
This story was updated after publication to include additional photographs and videos shared by readers Saturday, along with additional information from police and official online arrest records.
