The act of protest in Pennsylvania against a sidewalk robot ended with police intervention. Here’s why she did it.
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On Wednesday, a woman in Pennsylvania was arrested after allegedly refusing to move out of the path of a delivery robot.
The Philadelphia Police Department confirmed to Inc. that officers assigned to the 9th District responded to a report of criminal mischief. “Police issued multiple commands directing the female to move; however, she refused to comply,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
In an interview with WPVI, the woman, identified as Carolyn Marvin, told the outlet, “I know they’re taking the jobs of human delivery workers and so, I have been protesting them whenever I saw them by standing in front of them and preventing them from going forward.”
A video of the confrontation was posted online and circulated across multiple social media platforms, gathering mass attention. “You guys are clowning her, but that bot is taking jobs away from people,” said one user.
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Marvin told WVPI that she was exercising her First Amendment rights and has confronted delivery robots on multiple occasions. A local eyewitness resident, Ashley Baldwin, told the outlet that she has 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.
When asked by WPVI whether she plans to continue protesting against the robots, Marvin said she will, adding that she hopes the incident encourages a discussion about delivery robots, artificial intelligence, and their expansion in everyday life.