Activists have blockaded Uber’s US headquarters because of the company’s links to President Donald Trump.
Uber’s CEO, Travis Kalanick, recently joined Trump’s new economic advisory board. The team also includes tech mogul Elon Musk, and the CEOs of private equity firm Blackstone and investment bankers JP Morgan.
A member of the group organising the action, Anti Police Terror, told The Independent employees could not enter the building, but people inside the building were free to go. Activists have blockaded all entrances to the building in downtown San Francisco.
Several of the protesters have locked themselves together with arm tubes outside every entrance to the building. Footage shows the protesters chanting: “Donald Trump, go away. Racist sexist, anti-gay.”
The activists have also blocked off San Francisco’s busy Market Street, holding a large banner claiming that “Uber collaborates with Trump.” A brass band has also joined the blockade.
A Facebook Live video shows police arriving at the scene, but it does not appear that they have attempted to move on any protesters at the moment.
Cat Brooks, co-founder of Anti Police Terror, told The Independent she was protesting today to oppose Donald Trump’s racism.
“We targeted Uber because the tech industry has been increasingly pricing out black and brown people from the Bay Area, and actively profiting from their evictions.”
A statement issued by the group earlier today said: “ Uber CEO Travis Kalanick is among the front ranks of the white supremacists, misogynists, and xenophobes who have answered the call to public service by joining Trump’s Strategic and Policy Forum. Under a Trump administration run by the country’s most insulated ruling elites, the San Francisco-based company’s anti-worker business model can be expected to thrive, even as it runs public safety regulations into the ground.”
