The Lunar New Year Parade in San Francisco on Saturday will be the highlight of the Lunar New Year celebrations.
Community members and businesses in San Francisco's Chinatown are gearing up for another busy weekend. One thing they don't want to see happen is the kind of destruction that happened two weeks ago when Waymo's self-driving cars were vandalized and set on fire.
The incident happened around the corner from Red's Place on Jackson Street, Chinatown's oldest bar.
Reds is where locals, travelers, and tourists from all over the world come to watch the Lunar New Year festivities and fireworks.
Jerry Chan is the owner of Red's Place.
“So this is ground zero. It's not a hidden secret. It's always a tradition that's been going on for years,” he said.
But Chan said the celebration two weeks ago exceeded anything he had ever seen.
“Frankly, the incident that happened two weeks ago shouldn't have happened. It's not Chinatown,” he said.
This week, he and his team asked volunteers to help patrol the area. Chan said there will be about eight to 10 people in the area in hopes of keeping those who are there to enjoy the festival safe.
“We don't want outside hooligans coming into our community and doing stupid things because that's not what we're about,” he said. “In Chinatown, this is the time of year when we gather and celebrate. And thousands of people come here just to see our traditions, our ways, our culture.”
San Francisco police said no arrests have been made yet, but the investigation into the Waymo arson is ongoing.
Police added that more officers, both in uniform and plain clothes, will be present at Saturday's parade.
