As Los Angeles police struggled with another day of unrest in downtown L.A., several Waymo autonomous taxis were set on fire, sending black smoke billowing into the air.
The dramatic images were captured during an afternoon of clashes between large groups who were protesting immigration raids by the Trump administration and L.A. police who were trying to maintain order.
For some time, protesters blocked traffic on the 101 Freeway before California Highway Patrol officers slowly pushed them back. Police advised residents to avoid the the 101 Freeway through downtown L.A.
Images of the Waymo cars on fire on Los Angeles Street were broadcast nationally as Los Angeles has become a flashpoint in the immigration debate.
Tires were slashed, windows smashed, and anti-ICE messages spray-painted over the cars, which were parked in a row.
Protesters swarmed around the vehicles, tearing the doors off and stomping on the windshields. One man with a mask over his face smashed car windows with a skateboard. Another appeared to use a makeshift flamethrower to set the interior of a car ablaze.
Around 5:30 p.m., some people were seen throwing Lime electric scooters into the burning cars, while others stood back.
The Los Angeles Fire Department responded to the vehicle blazes while the Los Angeles Police Department warned people to stay away from the area.
A protester runs by a damaged Waymo vehicle on Los Angeles Street on Sunday.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
“Burning lithium-ion batteries release toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby,” said the LAPD in a statement.
Waymo’s fleet of electric, self-driving taxis has become a familiar sight on L.A. roads. A spokesperson for Waymo told The Times the company was in touch with law enforcement regarding the incident.
After launching in San Francisco and Phoenix, Waymo began serving Los Angeles in November. It attracted an initial wait list of around 300,000 people before becoming available to anyone who downloaded the service’s app, a company spokesperson said in January.
As of January, Waymo had already driven 1.9 million miles in Los Angeles.
