A Center City Philadelphia woman is arrested after blocking the path of an Uber delivery robot near Reading Terminal Market, police said.
Officers responded to the 1200 block of Filbert Street after witnesses reported a disturbance involving Carolyn Marvin and the robot. According to police, Marvin repeatedly blocked the robot’s path and ignored multiple commands from officers to move. She was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct. The confrontation was captured on video and has drawn online attention.
Marvin told Action News she was protesting the use of delivery robots because she believes they are replacing human 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 said. She described her actions as protected speech under the First Amendment and said she has confronted delivery robots on multiple occasions, including a September incident along Broad Street that also gained attention on social media.
A witness, Ashley Baldwin of West Philadelphia, said she saw one of those earlier encounters and initially thought the robot had hit Marvin. Baldwin said Marvin told her she had to stop the robots because “they’re taking over the world.”
Marvin said she plans to continue the protests. “I do. Why not? I think it’s my First Amendment right to publicly demonstrate on a sidewalk to protest against delivery robots,” she said. She hopes the incident encourages discussion about delivery robots, artificial intelligence, and their growing role in everyday life.
Delivery robots have operated in Philadelphia for months and have occasionally drawn public reaction, including viral videos of people interacting with or obstructing them.
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