By Don Sweeney
The Charlotte Observer
SAN FRANCISCO — A crowd surrounded a driverless Waymo car and set it ablaze in San Francisco, California firefighters say.
Videos on X, formerly Twitter, captured by an onlooker show the incident in Chinatown.
One shows people breaking windows with skateboards while the crowd cheers and shouts. Later videos show people standing back from the blazing vehicle.
Warning, some of the videos contain explicit language some may find offensive.
happening NOW in SF. Waymo car vandalized & lit on fire 🤯@sfchronicle pic.twitter.com/OEZYFiy6mv
— Michael Vandi (@michael_vandi) February 11, 2024
San Francisco firefighters told KNTV the incident took place around 9:25 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 . Waymo officials told the station no one was inside the vehicle at the time.
In another post on X, San Francisco firefighters said a crowd surrounded the car, broke windows and sprayed graffiti before lighting a firework inside, catching it on fire.
Waymo Vehicle surrounded and then graffiti’d, windows were broken, and firework lit on fire inside the vehicle which ultimately caught the entire vehicle on fire. #SFFD
— SAN FRANCISCO FIRE DEPARTMENT MEDIA (@SFFDPIO) February 11, 2024
Photos by Séraphine Hossenlopp pic.twitter.com/aOTqL3Rk8V
A large crowd celebrated the first day of the Lunar New Year in Chinatown on Saturday, SFGate reported.
It’s not clear what set off the crowd, although driverless cars have been controversial in the city, NPR reported. In 2023, protesters blocked off the cars with traffic cones to immobilize them.
A driverless Waymo car struck a bicyclist in San Francisco on Tuesday, Feb. 6 , causing minor injuries, KGO reported.
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