LA Protest Turns Violent as Protesters Torch Waymo Self-Driving Cars

Chaos in LA: Protesters have destroyed several Waymo self-driving cars during a demonstration, causing over $600,000 in damage.

The incident unfolded amid anti-deportation protests, where a group of individuals reportedly summoned the autonomous vehicles to the protest site-only to vandalize and set them on fire.

Videos circulating on X (formerly Twitter) show Waymo’s Jaguar I-Pace vehicles engulfed in flames and brutally smashed with bats. These electric vehicles, packed with high-end tech like LiDAR, 360-degree cameras, radar, and onboard computing, stood no chance against the rage of the crowd.

Waymo, a Google-owned company, currently operates in cities like Phoenix, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin, offering autonomous ride-hailing services. The company has plans to expand into 10 more cities by the end of 2025, including Las Vegas and San Diego.

This destruction brings into focus the increasing tension between cutting-edge tech and real-world political unrest. While Waymo pushes the boundaries of autonomous driving, some see these vehicles as symbols of gentrification, surveillance, or corporate overreach-making them unexpected targets in public protests.

In a contrasting move, Tesla is set to launch its unsupervised Full Self-Driving (FSD) mode on the Model Y in Austin next week, alongside a pilot rollout of 10–20 robotaxis. Unlike Waymo’s sensor-heavy approach, Tesla’s system relies on neural networks and camera vision, boasting a dramatically different strategy in the race toward autonomy.

As law enforcement clashed with demonstrators, the scorched remains of at least five Waymo vehicles stood as a dramatic testament to the tensions of our era. Whether this marks a turning point in public sentiment toward driverless tech-or simply a tragic footnote in LA’s protest history-remains to be seen.