“I think it’s my First Amendment right to publicly demonstrate on a sidewalk to protest against delivery robots.”

Good for her. I hope she fights it in court so we can set a precedent for this behavior being protected under the First Amendment.

In the future, delivery robots will weave and duck around pedestrians like a professional basketball player. But for now, they can’t get around an old lady on the sidewalk.

Can we both be against delivery robots and also question if she’s protected in demonstrating this way?

What if she was against UberEats and got in the way of the human delivery person? Before you say it’s not the same, it’s the demonstration rights I’m questioning, not what is being protested. If she blocks a public sidewalk, regardless of who it is, is that okay? It seems the consequences of any public protest that interferes with normal business results in arrests, and others are willing to go through that to make their point.

Hopefully I don’t just get downvotes and actually get comments on the point being made, and any “oh, you’re a pro-robot lover who wants them to take jobs”… no, I want a society where robots can do the tasks humans shouldn’t have to do to (not really) make a living on. Anyone who thinks a Uber/Doordash person is making any money to live on is crazy. Some things should be automated, and we should have systems in place so people don’t have to do shit jobs to just get by.

But that wasn’t the point, I’m just talking about free speech and sidewalks.

Arrested? I hope those idiots lose hard.