this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2026
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A retired Penn professor has been blocking Uber Eats robots for months. This week, she got arrested for it (www.phillyvoice.com)
submitted 10 hours ago by UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
91 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/53250107

Police confirmed they had responded to a report of "criminal mischief involving a robot" on the 1200 block of Filbert Street around 1:16 p.m. on Wednesday. A woman on the scene ignored "multiple commands" to move, they said, resulting in a criminal violation notice for disorderly conduct.

Uber declined to comment.

Marvin, who plans to contest the charge on the grounds of her First Amendment right to protest, has been undeterred by the arrest. She plans to continue blocking Uber Eats robots and chatting with curious passersby who ask what she's doing.

"It allows me to talk to people about what's going on," she said. "It's always very interesting conversations that we have, and I think it's good to have those kinds of conversations in public space."

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[–] merc@sh.itjust.works 27 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

She was arrested for "disorderly conduct", for just standing there.

[–] LilB0kChoy@reddthat.com 6 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

After looking at the Philadelphia statute for disorderly conduct I’m assuming it’s based off this:

Obstructing a Highway or other Public Passage. No person shall, without legal privilege to do so, intentionally or recklessly obstruct a highway, sidewalk, or other public passage.

[–] bold_atlas@lemmy.world 2 points 2 hours ago* (last edited 2 hours ago) (1 children)

I want to know WHO was she obstructing? Sidewalks are for people. Are the cops going to make sure stray animals have full access as well?

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 hour ago

Anyone trying to navigate that section of the sidewalk.

It's still bullshit, and it's still a first amendment issue as it is a form of protest.

But standing somewhere, blocking a public space is obstructing the flow of traffic, and meets the standard. Being arrested is part and parcel of protest because legal challenges form precedent. Sometimes you want to be arrested for both visibility and that opportunity to challenge a law, or otherwise shift things.

Blocking the robot isn't the same as blocking a human. But blocking robot did block other humans. They had to navigate around it. Rubbernecking is inevitable. You've got the people interested in what she's doing and why standing there too. In terms of whether or not she violated that law, there's zero doubt she did.

And that's part of the process of changing that law, hopefully

[–] FuCensorship@lemmy.today 11 points 6 hours ago

Step aside HUMAN!