Waymo halted ride services in parts of Los Angeles on Sunday in response to ongoing protests in the city, during which several of the company’s vehicles were set on fire.
Alphabet-owned Waymo reached 10 million trips last month and is now completing more than 250,000 paid rides each week as it expands to more U.S. cities.
Protests in the state of California broke out on Friday, against federal immigration raids by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
According to the L.A. police department (LAPD) on X, “multiple people have been detained for failing to disperse after multiple warnings were issued.”
On Saturday, President Donald Trump deployed over 2,000 National Guard troops to confront the protesters.
Trump posted on Truth Social that the protesters are “paid insurrectionists” and called Governor Gavin “Newscum” and Mayor Karen Bass “incompetent.”
Over the weekend, images surfaced on social media showing Waymo vehicles being vandalized or set on fire during protests in downtown Los Angeles.
Several users on X claimed that rioters summoned the vehicles to the scene using the Waymo app, and then set them on fire.
Local media outlet LA Times reported that five Waymo taxis had their tires slashed, windows smashed and “anti-ICE” messages spray-painted over them before being set on fire by protesters.
The LAPD warned people to stay away from the area, stating that “burning lithium-ion batteries releases toxic gases, including hydrogen fluoride, posing risks to responders and those nearby.”
The vehicles are part of the Waymo‘s ride-hailing service, currently active in LA, Phoenix, San Francisco and Austin — where Tesla will launch its robotaxi on June 12.
The autonomous vehicle from the Google subsidiary is on the road since October of 2020 and has served over 10 million paid trips since then, according to the company.
Earlier on Monday, Elon Musk shared an image of one of Waymo‘s vandalized vehicles on X, saying, “This is not ok.”
Earlier this year, protests all over the U.S. and across Europe broke out against Tesla as Elon Musk became increasingly involved in politics. Several Tesla vehicles and dealerships were vandalized.
