Waymo self-driving vehicles had been vandalized and set ablaze throughout a protest towards ICE raids in downtown Los Angeles.
Waymo quickly pulled its fleet from the realm and is cooperating with authorities.
A number of Waymo autonomous taxis had been vandalized and set on fireplace Sunday throughout a protest towards the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids in Los Angeles and the Trump administration’s deployment of Nationwide Guard into the area.
What the automobiles had been doing there—who despatched them, and why—is to date unknown. Viral movies posted to social media present demonstrators climbing atop the self-driving taxis, smashing home windows, and spray-painting the perimeters of the taxis. No less than 5 automobiles had been severely broken and set on fireplace because the protest escalated on Sunday night, in keeping with a report by KTLA.
As the electrical automobiles burned, officers warned that the chemical compounds within the vehicles’ batteries may launch poisonous fumes.
⚠️ Visitors Advisory⚠️ To our media companions, demonstrators and others who might enter the realm of Los Angeles St, North of Arcadia and South of Alameda:
Burning lithium-ion batteries launch poisonous gases, together with hydrogen fluoride, posing dangers to responders and people close by.…
— LAPD Central Division (@LAPDCentral) June 9, 2025
Whereas Waymo appeared to cut back its operations within the Los Angeles space on the Waymo app, the corporate mentioned it’s being cautious with additional deployments.
“Waymo remains to be working in Los Angeles,” a spokesperson advised Decrypt. “Nonetheless, out of an abundance of warning, given the current exercise, we eliminated automobiles from Downtown Los Angeles and won’t be serving that particular space of LA in the meanwhile.” The spokesperson famous that Waymo didn’t look like the goal of the assaults.
Waymo mentioned it was working with native authorities within the aftermath of the incident. The Los Angeles Police Division didn’t reply to Decrypt’s request for remark.
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