- Waymo halted LA operations after several robotaxis were vandalized and set on fire.
- Anti-ICE messages were spray-painted on the autonomous vehicles before being destroyed.
- A Cybertruck with anti-ICE slogans was seen circling the protest area waving a large flag.
Several robotaxis operated by Waymo in Los Angeles have been torched by protestors as the National Guard arrived in the city. While locals have the right to protest, there’s no need to set Waymo vehicles on fire, simply as a means to vent their frustrations against the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
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Footage shared to social media shows at least five Waymo vehicles vandalized by protestors in recent days, before being smashed and set alight. The attacks forced the self-driving division of Alphabet to pause its services in the city.
Read: Waymo’s Driverless Cars Kept Hitting Objects You See But They Don’t
According to the LA Times, protestors descended on an area of Los Angeles Street at approximately 5 p.m. on Sunday. They proceeded to slash the tires, smash the windows, and tag them with anti-ICE messages. At least one protester is believed to have used a makeshift flamethrower to set the interior of one of the Waymo robotaxis on fire.
Local police were forced to respond and had to close Los Angeles Street north of Arcadia and south of Alameda streets, declaring it an unlawful assembly. Not only is intentionally setting EVs on fire stupid, but it’s also dangerous, as burning batteries can release toxic fumes, including hydrogen fluoride.
Waymo Responds
Waymo responded to the incident in a statement to CBS News, saying it didn’t believe its vehicles were deliberately targeted but rather were “present during the protests.” That may be true, but it doesn’t exactly offer much comfort when your AI-powered fleet ends up as kindling during civil unrest.
This is not the first time that Waymo’s fleet of robotaxis has been targeted. In early 2024, a wild mob in San Francisco attacked one of the company’s Jaguar I-Pace models, setting it on fire.
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The chaotic scenes across Los Angeles didn’t just lead to the destruction of several Waymo vehicles. Over the weekend, a blacked-out Tesla Cybertruck was filmed driving in circles at a major LA intersection, as seen in a video shared on Reddit. The EV was waving a large Mexican flag and had anti-ICE messages sprayed on both sides. It hasn’t been confirmed whether the truck was stolen, borrowed, or part of a performance protest, but it certainly added to the surreal tone of the weekend.
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