As Los Angeles police struggled on another mayhem day in downtown LA, several Waymo autonomous taxis began to burn, causing black smoke to swirl through the air.
The dramatic images were taken on the afternoon of a clash with a large group protesting immigrant raids by the Trump administration and LA police, seeking to maintain order.
For a while, protesters blocked traffic on the 101 highway before California Highway officials slowly pushed back. Police advised residents to avoid the 101 highway through downtown LA
Images of Waymo Cars on Fire on Los Angeles Street aired nationwide as Los Angeles became a flashpoint in immigration debates.
Tires were reduced, windows were destroyed, and cars were lined with anti-ice messages painted spray-painted on them, and they parked in succession.
Protesters flocked around the vehicle, tore the doors and stomped the windshield. One man with a mask on his face slashed a car window with a skateboard. Another appeared to use a makeshift flamethrower to burn the interior of the car.
Some people were throwing Lime electric scooters at a burning car around 5:30pm, while others stood up.
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the flames in the vehicle, and the Los Angeles Police Department warned people to stay away from the area.
The protesters are run by a damaged Waymo vehicle on Los Angeles Avenue on Sunday.
(Robert Gautier/Los Angeles Times)
“Commuting lithium-ion batteries releases toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, poses risks to responders and nearby risks,” LAPD said in a statement.
Waymo’s fleet of electrically self-driving taxis has become a familiar sight of the LA road. A Waymo spokesman told Times, where the company is in contact with law enforcement in relation to the case.
After launching in San Francisco and Phoenix, Waymo launched its service in Los Angeles in November. A company spokesman attracted the first waiting list of around 300,000 people in January before it became available to those who downloaded the service’s app.
As of January, Waymo was already driving 1.9 million miles in Los Angeles.
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