![In a protest unrelated to the vandalism of Feb 10, members of the San Francisco Taxi Workers ... [+] Alliance and supporters during a rally outside t](https://imageio.forbes.com/specials-images/imageserve/65c88fa3224f04c6c82c87ed/0x0.jpg?format=jpg&height=900&width=1600&fit=bounds "Crowd Attacks Waymo, Sets It On Fire")
Crowd Attacks Waymo, Sets It On Fire
In a protest unrelated to the vandalism of Feb 10, members of the San Francisco Taxi Workers ... [+] Alliance and supporters during a rally outside the California Public Utilities Commission headquarters in San Francisco, California, US, on Monday, Aug. 7, 2023. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
In a disturbing scene, a crowd in San Francisco surrounded an empty Waymo Robotaxi the evening of Feb 11, then began vandalizing it and breaking its windows. At some point, the vehicle was set on fire. San Francisco Fire attended to it but the vehicle is presumably destroyed.
Video posted on X shows 4 portions of the scene, on Jackson St. near Grant in San Francisco’s original Chinatown, crowded because of the Lunar New Year, and the upcoming Superbowl game which includes the San Francisco 49ers. Violence in crowds around such events is far from unknown, but this escalates previously mild attempts at violence and vandalism with other robotaxis. It is unclear if it is an escalation of such sentiment, or just a random event.
There is mild irony that the San Francisco Fire Dept. have been enemies of Waymo of late, complaining that they have interfered with their fire operations. At the same time, the department released a video to explain how cars should drive when a fire truck appears on a call, and it used a Waymo as the example of doing the right thing.
