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Anti-Musk demonstrators confronted Tennessee Sen Brent Taylor during a protest outside a Tesla showroom in Bartlett, northeast of Memphis, on Saturday, March 22, as the politician showed up to "support" the brand. A day earlier, after hearing of plans for the protest, Taylor had posted a photo on X of https://x.com/SenBrentTaylor/status/1903240965734670779">an electric chair and wrote: "We have prepared a place for the Tesla Terrorists, Intersection Imbeciles, and Bridge Bandits if they should they break any laws during their planned misfit protest." Footage from Ian Ripple shows Taylor speaking about Tesla and Elon Musk outside the showroom, before confronting protesters lined up along Germantown Parkway. "I just wanted to come to support Tesla," Taylor told Ripple. "I wanted to support these Memphians who are actually working and trying to earn a living for their families. I wanted to support them. And I also wanted to engage with folks who don't agree with me, and I wanted to talk to them to see what they had to say." In https://x.com/SenBrentTaylor/status/1903534856170291652 a post on X , Taylor slammed the protesters, whom he referred to as "weathered purple-haired hippies at bay" and " https://x.com/SenBrentTaylor/status/1903539578671174055">crazies ." "I was surprised to see so many different protestors there," he said. "I saw Ukrainian flags, trans flags, gay flags (or whatever they're called), upside down American flags, fat positivity flags, etc. I don't think the protesters really knew what they were protesting." (Footage by Ian Ripple/Storyful via Getty Images UGC)