Retired professor arrested for blocking Uber Eats delivery robot

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 18 Oct, 00:56 · Archive

A retired University of Pennsylvania professor was arrested in Philadelphia for blocking an autonomous Uber Eats delivery robot in protest.

Carolyn Marvin, 78, was arrested on Wednesday afternoon on the 1200 block of Filbert Street in Philadelphia after standing in front of an autonomous Uber Eats food delivery robot and refusing to move. Police asked her multiple times to get out of the way before placing her in custody. She was charged with disorderly conduct.

Marvin, a University of Pennsylvania professor emeritus who taught a class on freedom of expression, said she has been protesting delivery robots for months because they are taking jobs from human delivery workers. '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,' she told WPVI-TV.

Marvin plans to contest the charges. She told media outlets: 'I think it's my First Amendment right to publicly demonstrate on a sidewalk to protest against delivery robots.' She framed her actions as exercising her rights as an American citizen and said the arrest will not stop her protest activities.

How it is being reported

• Dystopian moment Philadelphia woman is arrested for blocking delivery robot from completing its taskThe 78-year-old woman said that she was protesting the food delivery robots because they were 'taking the jobs of human delivery workers.'Daily Mail · 18 Oct, 00:46
• Ex-Penn professor busted for blocking Uber Eats robot ‘taking over human jobs’Philadelphia resident Carolyn Marvin was arrested for disorderly conduct after she blocked a delivery robot on the street in protest against the bots taking jobs from humans.New York Post · 17 Oct, 16:34

In this story: Carolyn Marvin · University of Pennsylvania · Uber Eats · Philadelphia

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