According to the company's representatives, at least six Waymo self-driving cars have been damaged in recent days in Los Angeles protesting federal immigration raids.

These self-driving cars and some Lime electric scooters were damaged, and some were even set on fire and completely damaged.

The video of someone climbing onto a Waymo self-driving taxi and smashing the windshield, and the clips of Waymo cars engulfed by the fire, were widely circulated online, quickly becoming a key picture of protests in downtown Los Angeles.

June 8, 2025 A protester kicked a burning Waymo car during an anti-ICE protest in downtown Los Angeles, California on Sunday.

The Los Angeles Police Department warned people on Sunday to stay away from the area because of the risk of toxin exposure on the battery fire. All self-driving taxis deployed by Alphabet's Waymo are electric vehicles.

The police department warned on social media: "The burning lithium-ion battery releases toxic gases including hydrogen fluoride, posing a risk to rescue workers and nearby people."

According to a Waymo spokesman, no Waymo passenger or employee was injured in the incident, and the passenger had gotten off before the vehicle was damaged. The company stopped service downtown on Monday as protests continued, but Waymo continued to operate in the Los Angeles region.

A spokesman for Waymo said in a statement: "In view of recent activities, we have withdrawn our vehicles from downtown Los Angeles for caution and will not currently serve this particular area of ​​Los Angeles," noted that the company is working with the police department and other departments to assess the situation.

June 9, 2025 On Sunday, protesters violently burned Waymo self-driving cars and workers cleared the wreckage during protests against immigration raids.

It is unclear whether protesters have decided to target Waymo cars or Lime scooters specifically, and as protests escalate, these cars and scooters may be in a unfortunate situation.

The Los Angeles Transportation Department forwarded all the issues to Waymo and said it was not clear whether there were any accident reports. Waymo declined to comment on the expected total losses, while Lime declined to comment.

Analysts estimate that the Waymo Jaguar I-Pace SUVs equipped with radar and lidar equipment will cost between $150,000 and $200,000 each.

According to Waymo, another isolated incident of Waymo's car being destroyed in San Francisco, where anti-ICE protests continue.

Automotive cars can become targets of vandals from time to time, such as someone cutting a tire or throwing fireworks at the vehicle. A few years ago, a man was chasing several Cruise self-driving taxis on the streets of San Francisco with an axe in his hand, sometimes carrying passengers.

President Donald Trump ordered the National Guard to intervene in the protests in Los Angeles on Saturday. Protesters clashed with police, trash bins were damaged, and the Los Angeles Police Department shared videos of a store robbed on social media.

By Monday, protests had subsided, although a large number of protesters were still marching downtown.

Waymo currently operates in San Francisco, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Austin, and plans to launch self-driving taxi services in Austin and Miami.

At present, Waymo is the only autonomous taxi company in the United States that operates commercially in multiple different markets. Tesla is preparing to launch self-driving taxi services in Austin this month, but initial deployment will be very limited, with only 10 to 20 vehicles. Waymo said it had paid more than 10 million rides by the end of May.