Philadelphia Woman Arrested After Blocking Delivery Robot in Jobs Protest
A Philadelphia woman was arrested and charged after blocking a delivery robot in a jobs protest, a local newscast reported.
Police said the woman, identified in the report as Marvin, repeatedly blocked the robot’s path and ignored multiple commands from officers to move. Marvin said her actions were protected speech and described them as a protest against the use of delivery robots, which she believes are replacing human workers. The newscast described her as a grey-haired woman.
“I have been protesting them whenever I saw them by standing in front of them and preventing them from going forward,” Marvin said, according to the report. She said she had confronted delivery robots on multiple occasions.
Ashley Baldwin of West Philadelphia said she witnessed one of those encounters. “I actually thought the robot hit her, so my original question was, ‘Are you OK? Did the robot hit you?’ And she said, ‘No, I have to stop this. They’re taking over the world,’” Baldwin said.
Marvin said she was protesting because “I know they’re taking the jobs of human delivery workers,” according to the newscast. Asked whether she plans to continue protesting the robots, she said she does.
The report said Uber did not respond to a request for comment.