Rally Planned for Hitchhiking Robot

A rally will be held near Philadelphia’s City Hall this Friday afternoon in honor of the late hitchhiking robot named HitchBOT.

Thousands of people are expected to attend, according to the organizers from the Robot and Computer Humane Treatment Association. The group’s founder, Jonathan Bailey, says the goal of the rally is to bring awareness to robot issues and push for new legislation. “Robots need a Bill of Rights, just like everyone else,” explained Bailey. “Anyone else who happened to see the gruesome photos of what the vandals did to that poor droid would be shouting for the Mayor at the foot of City Hall.”

After news of HitchBOT’s murder broke on Saturday, the story went viral. People took to social media in droves to show their support for the poor, helpless bucket of bolts.

David Harris Smith was the head of the hitchBOT project, and said he feels like a father to the robot. He’s not surprised that so many people have reacted so emotionally to the news. “Everyone has a friend with a Roomba, Furby, or programmable thermostat, and it’s painful to imagine violence like this happening to robots that are so close to us,” he said.

RCHTA’s website has drafts of possible robotic legislation ready to be shown to legislators. Their “Robotic Bill of Rights” is based on Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, theorized in 1942. “Asimov was a philosopher living a century before his time,” Bailey commended.

The rally will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Penn’s Landing and head toward City Hall. Commuters should expect road closures and delays during the afternoon rush hour.