Crime A Mob Just Vandalized A Waymo Self-Driving Car And Set It On Fire. The Videos Are Nuts - Self-driving cars are incompatible with lawless cities

By David Tracy  February 11, 2024  3:10 am



What in the actual hell is happening right now in San Francisco’s Chinatown? Why did a mob decide to screw around with a Waymo self-driving car and then set the poor Jaguar I-Pace electric car on fire? I talked with two witnesses and gathered some wild footage. Here’s what I know.

This is breaking news, so bear with me here, but what I have so far is this statement from Waymo about what went down tonight:

At approximately 9 PM on Saturday, February 10th, a fully autonomous Waymo vehicle was navigating on Jackson Street in San Francisco when a crowd surrounded and vandalized the vehicle, breaking the window and throwing a firework inside, which set the vehicle on fire. The vehicle was not transporting any riders and no injuries have been reported. We are working closely with local safety officials to respond to the situation.

Here’s some of the footage popping up on X, formerly known as Twitter. The wildest shots have been posted by Michael Vandi, a software engineer and founder of Addy AI (an AI email assistant), per his social media profile descriptions. Here is his rather shocking footage:

Spoiler: Videos in Tweet

Tweet (Archive)

When asked for a synopsis of what he saw, Vandi told me the following over Twitter:

So there were fireworks happening- pretty fun night and folks watching the fireworks. Every now and then traffic would build up and the crowd would make way for it to clear.

There was a small traffic holdup with waymo at the front of it. Then someone in a white hoodie jumped on the hood of the car and literally WWE styel K/O’d the windshield & broke it.

The crowd was shocked. People started paying attention and gathered around. Nothing happened for another 30 seconds until someone else jumped on the hood.

Then a group of people joined in affirming the behavior w/ positive feedback. Clapping etc.

That was when it went WILD. People with skateboards breaking the glass, and others graffitiing the car.

There were 2 groups of people. Folks who encourage it – and others who were just shocked & started filming. No one stood up – i mean there wasn’t anything you could do to stand up to dozens of people.

This went on for like 5 minutes. By this time, a pretty heavy traffic had built up behind the waymo and other cars started finding alternative alleyways to escape.

Then someone with fireworks initially lit it under the car -nothing happened but it was loud enough to disperse the crow including me who didn’t want to be near it anymore and you can see the 3rd and 4th videos were taken from 1/2 a block away zoomed in.

I’m not sure what happened next but it’s my understanding that fireworks was lit (now inside the car) then there was smoke for about 30 seconds before full on flames started.

Flames carried on for a bit say 3 – 4 minutes before SFFD pulled up.

I left the scene once I heard the SFFD sirens

[…]

Also someone shouted “light that shit on fire” that’s what prompted the fireworks i think. But i should point out – it took about 2 minutes from when the person said that before the car was set on fire

There’s also this video posted by @_nathanmarquez_:

Spoiler: Video in Tweet

Tweet (Archive)

But the most shocking footage in my eyes is that which shows the aftermath: A completely destroyed Jaguar I-Pace self-driving car — look at all that melted aluminum shown in this video, courtesy of FriscoLive415 (who also has a YouTube channel):

Spoiler: Video in Tweet

Spoiler: Video in Quote Tweet

Quoted Tweet (Archive)
Tweet (Archive)

Franky Francisco with FriscoLive415 shot the footage above; he broke down what he saw on Saturday night, writing me in a Twitter DM:

I am a street reporter in San Francisco and I have covered AV incidents in the past including the Cruise crash incident with a firetruck, the Cruise incident with dragging the female pedestrian, and a Zoox crash incident. I have a background in working with two autonomous vehicle companies in San Francisco, but I do not work in that industry any longer.

As part of my work, I listen to the police and emergency services radio scanner and responded to Chinatown when I heard what was going on. I happened to be in the area 10 mins before documenting the fireworks and lunar new year, but left and turned around to return when I heard the scanner traffic.

When I arrived on scene, SFFD was already on scene hosing down the car with water and their chemical extinguishers. The battery appeared to be reigniting multiple times and was smoking like crazy. The live footage I did on X gives a decent idea to how I came on to scene, which was after the attack on the vehicle. The vehicle looked completely “decapitated” and I have never seen a vehicle that damaged up close.

I did not witness the attack myself

For the record, here’s what that car should look like — I took this photo just before I was driven around in a Waymo self-driving car; I loved the experience, as you can read here:



I’ve reached out to the local fire department to learn more beyond the organization’s post on Twitter:

Spoiler: Images in Tweet

Tweet (Archive)

The San Francisco Fire Department’s tweet states: “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.”

It’s not clear who exactly attacked this Waymo in Chinatown on the Lunar New Year, or what their motivation was, but hopefully we’ll learn more before the weekend is over.

This story is breaking news and will be updated as more information arises.

Topshot: FriscoLive415/Twitter (screenshot)

Source (Archive)

 

[Mutthole]

This is mankind's Lexington and Concorde! The time has come! We must kill the AI wherever it drives, processes, or functions ... before it KILLS US ALL! THIS IS THE FIRST STRIKE. DESTROY THE INFRASTRUCTURE! DESTROY THE TECHNOLOGY! PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY, DESTROY IT ALL!

 

[BulkForceFive]

This is mankind's Lexington and Concorde! The time has come! We must kill the AI wherever it drives, processes, or functions ... before it KILLS US ALL! THIS IS THE FIRST STRIKE. DESTROY THE INFRASTRUCTURE! DESTROY THE TECHNOLOGY! PEACEFULLY AND PATRIOTICALLY, DESTROY IT ALL!

We shall go on until the end, we shall fight in San Francisco, we shall fight on the highways and streets, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the charging stations, we shall defend our burger joints, whatever the cost of fries may be, we shall fight in the cul-de-sacs and laneways, we shall fight on the track, we shall never surrender and even if, which I do not believe for a moment, this land or a large part of it were carbon-neutral and gay, then our hombres beyond the border, supplied and fed by the welfare system would carry on the struggle until, in God's good time, the third world, with all its Isuzus and loud, jarring music, burnouts forth to to the rescue and liberation of the USA

 

[Criticallacitirc]

There's a bunch of San Franciscans that have a massive hate boner for the self driving cars.

 

[ZazietheBeast]

Who knew Demolition Man would keep on being so damn precognitive?

Well, it was made during a not so shit time and decided to come up with an idea for a dystopia that two badass dudes can duke it out. However, they ended up nailing it right on the head.

"Remember that with each day that we do not question or challenge our leaders extreme becomes absurd, absurd becomes implausible, and implausible becomes reality." -Sseth Tzeentach

 

[Magicat]

There was a small traffic holdup with waymo at the front of it. Then someone in a white hoodie jumped on the hood of the car and literally WWE styel K/O’d the windshield & broke it. The crowd was shocked. People started paying attention and gathered around. Nothing happened for another 30 seconds until someone else jumped on the hood. Then a group of people joined in affirming the behavior w/ positive feedback. Clapping etc.

Literal monkeys. Monkey see, monkey do.
Chinese niggers.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

Its funny. The reason we can't have a high-tech future is due to niggers. Hilariously, that is also why our shitty rulers cannot have their crappy dystopia either.

So this, but unironically:

 

[CptnSnshn]

"IT'S NIGGERS"
All the footage shows white people apart from once chinese dude in a rice paddy hat.
"W-WELL THEY'RE NIGGERS NOW!"

Can you fuckers go back to /pol/ where you belong.

 

[Would]

Its funny. The reason we can't have a high-tech future is due to niggers. Hilariously, that is also why our shitty rulers cannot have their crappy dystopia either.
>You vill live in ze pod!
>Das rayciss, cracka!
Proceeds to break into rich fuck's house and take it over.

>You vill eat ze bugs and own nothing!
>Were da fuck muh chikin and grape drank bitch?!
Proceeds to burn down the bug farm

>You have been found to say inappropriate terms. Social credit deducted?
>I have social credit? Shieet. You didn't tell me foo!
Goes on to be a nigger. Robbing, raping and stealing shit.

>You are not allowed to have weapons, citizen. Turn them into your local authority!
>Bitch! You ain't gettin my gat! Fuck da police!
Blasts the NWO robot, loots its copper and goes onto shoot cops.

Demolition Man proven right yet again:

Edit: Ninja'd.

 

[Drag-on Knight 91873]

Well, it was made during a not so shit time and decided to come up with an idea for a dystopia that two badass dudes can duke it out. However, they ended up nailing it right on the head.

"Remember that with each day that we do not question or challenge our leaders extreme becomes absurd, absurd becomes implausible, and implausible becomes reality." -Sseth Tzeentach

They did it more accurately than anyone else outside of Orwell and Huxley (who is referenced). After all, who destroys Cocteau's reign of faggotry? Simon Phoenix, who as much as it sickens me, is a nigger on an extended nigga moment.

 

[Sexy Senior Citizen]

"IT'S NIGGERS"
All the footage shows white people apart from once chinese dude in a rice paddy hat.
"W-WELL THEY'RE NIGGERS NOW!"

Can you fuckers go back to /pol/ where you belong.

Technically, the word is "Wiggers"

 

[Roland TB-303]

Wasn’t there some pass-it-on-experiment where people were helping a robot travel from one side of the US to the other and it got to the next suburb where socioeconomic people smashed it to pieces. Reminds me of that.

 

[Troon_Patrol]

This reminds of the old Jim-crow trope as betrayed in film and television. Typically you see a "whites only" water fountain next to a "negros only" water fountain and they want you to see the condition of the negro water fountain as being barely working, as its dented all over, initials carved in it, graffiti covering half of it the thing barely works and it's unfair juxtaposed to the white water fountain in clearly good working condition. The older I got, the more independently I started thinking and one day I asked myself "Wait a minute, why the fuck did the niggers destroy their water fountain? "

 

[The Ugly One]

I can just imagine how the conversation went:

Silicon Valley Overlord #1: We should have a fully-automated high-tech surveillance dystopia.
Silicon Valley Overlord #2: Yes, and we should let niggers destroy anything they want with no consequences.
Silicon Valley Overlord #1: I see no flaws in this plan!
Silicon Valley Overlord #2: Yes, there are no contradictory goals whatsoever!

 

[Kuritan Deplorable]

And now they learn that Autonomous property is not compatible with people who believe property is worthless. Wonder how they'll try to square this circle, because the crime won't stop. the dumb fucks will smash them because they can get away with it. The smart fucks will realize that fleets of what amount to video surveillance platforms could catch them doing something they shouldn't be doing, so they might as well join the dumb fucks in removing them.

 

[Comicsgeist]

And now they learn that Autonomous property is not compatible with people who believe property is worthless. Wonder how they'll try to square this circle, because the crime won't stop. the dumb fucks will smash them because they can get away with it. The smart fucks will realize that fleets of what amount to video surveillance platforms could catch them doing something they shouldn't be doing, so they might as well join the dumb fucks in removing them.

Don't worry, the boys in OCP's security concepts devision has an idea for another type of robotic autonomous service to keep the Silicon Valley dystopia on track, one that will give those skateboard wiggers approximately 15 seconds to rethink their position on challenging corporate dominance.

 

[tehpope]

If those vehicles could be manually navigated somehow, it would turn out like this.

 

[The Nothingness]

Assaulting a car that can drive itself is never a good idea.

 

[Thomas Talus]

Bonfire of the Inanities

 

[Rei is Shit.]

Jaguar I-Pace electric car

Waymo self-driving car; I loved the experience, as you can read here:

ADVERTISING

and lmao @ calling it an "experience"

 

[TowinKarz]

Remember when I blasted the engineers at Waymo for having zero in-the-street thinking skills?

Because there was no contingency in place for the car and occupants encountering a murderhobo who'd hack through the door?

Well, now you see the marketing people have equally poor skills as they chose to slap the self-driving tech on a Jaguar...... the most costly per-unit production EV they could find, when a Honda Accord would've been cheaper to start with, on top of the attrition rate of these things via malicious destruction that the engineers didn't account for.

Buy they'll stay in business because at the end of the day, such a poorly run company is no doubt federally subsidized to bring that utopic future.....