Waymo, robotaxi
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Waymo said it had temporarily halted service in downtown Los Angeles after several of its cars were torched during protests.
Now electric, driverless vehicles have been summoned to protest scenes via the Waymo app. The resulting EV fires burn hotter than traditional car fires and are potentially more hazardous. The autonomous robot taxis owned by Google parent company Alphabet were tagged with protest slogans and profanity—and set on fire—as a way to disrupt traffic over the weekend and demonstrate against the widespread roundup of migrants by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers.
Waymo has suspended service of its ride-hailing service in downtown Los Angeles after its vehicles were set on fire during protests against immigration raids in the area.
In one photo, at least five Waymo robotaxis can be seen engulfed in flames, with anti-Immigration and Customs Enforcement graffiti scrawled on the doors.
4:47 p.m. EDT The Trump administration asked the judge to reject Newsom’s request and allow it to respond by Wednesday, calling Newsom’s attempt to block the deployment of federal troops “legally meritless” and saying it would jeopardize the safety of Homeland Security personnel and interfere with the government’s ability to carry out operations.
HOW WE GOT HERE: The protests erupted after Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers on Friday carried out raids in three locations across L.A., where dozens of people were taken into custody. Newsom called the raids “chaotic federal sweeps” that aimed to fill an “arbitrary arrest quota.”