Replying to Does the USA have a cultural propensity towards violence? - Hitchbot destroyed in Philly

While there are many examples one could use to illustrate this topic, I stumbled across this article this morning:

http://www.iflscience.com/technology/hitchhiking-robot-manages-two-weeks-us-being-destroyed

If you're unfamiliar with the story, a group of Canadian researchers developed a robot whose goal it was to document a hitchhike across Canada, parts of Euroland, and across the USA. It would survive the trip solely relying on the benevolence of the people wanting to further its journey. More here

Hitchbot made it completely across Canada and Germany unharmed, but after only 2 weeks into its trip across the USA, he was destroyed in Philadelphia:

So America, what's the deal?

Are people here just so far gone that the only way they can express themselves is through violence?

Definitely a bummer, this was a cool experiment.