High School Teacher Arrested for Clapping in Support of Anti-Data Center Activists

If you’re among the millions of US citizens against power-hungry data centers going up in your town, you may want to be careful about how you exercise your First Amendment right to protest.

Last week, high school physics teacher Lux Claridge was hauled out of a public meeting by four police officers for the baffling crime of clapping in support of an anti-data center speaker. During the public comment portion of the meeting, held by the Emporia City Commission in Lyon County, Kansas, residents who showed up to voice opposition to a 1,000-acre data center project were warned against “clapping” and “snapping” in support of speakers.

“It was very clear at the beginning that each person is given their two minutes, and we’re trying to be respectful of that,” Emporia commissioner Monica Duncan warned those in attendance, footage of the meeting shared on social media shows. “Snapping, clapping, any other rude comments or anything — we will ask you to leave.”

As one speaker later wrapped up her two-minute comment period, stating “we are the people, and the table belongs to us,” Claridge was filmed clapping his hands together a total of six times.

“Chief, will you take the next person out that claps or anything?” an unidentified commissioner, likely Duncan, then asked Emporia police chief Ed Owens.

At the commissioners’ request, four police officers then swarmed Claridge, who challenged them to “drag me out,” which they did after placing the physics teacher in handcuffs.

Speaking to local channel KWCH after their arrest, an undeterred Claridge said they are “glad to be out,” but that it was just an “inconvenience, really.”

“It’s not really deterring me from speaking out or I guess, clapping,” Claridge continued.

Other attendees were understandably shaken after witnessing the brazen escalation against a citizen expressing themselves at a public hearing. Interviewed by KWCH, Claridge’s brother David said he’s “looking at avenues to get these people recalled,” calling the level of force used “insane.”

“We are citizens of this community; we have a right to do our constitutionally protected activities, which is exactly what they’re violating at this time,” another anonymous local told the outlet. “I think we’re all in a state of fear because of what this government’s doing to us.”

The data center in question, known as the “Flint Hills Digital Campus,” is a planned hyperscale data center. If it ever gets built, could easily be the largest data center in the state of Kansas.

The hypocrisy on display at the meeting where Claridge was arrested — where procedural rules are clearly being weaponized against concerned citizens — may be particularly acute in the small Kansas town, but it’s also part and parcel of the situation unfolding all across the United States as distrust with the tech industry soars to unprecedented heights.

When big business interests march into town, civic leaders and their watchdogs on the local police force roll out the red carpet — Emporia commissioners voted unanimously to annex over 1,000 acres for Pinkston’s data center just one day after it was announced — yet when the people who live there ask to be included in the process, they’re insulted by officials, surveilled by police, and hauled off to jail.

Data centers aren’t new in that regard, but they do reflect the growing imposition of moneyed tech interests into the everyday lives of common people. As Emporia journalist Max McCoy wrote: “The system is built to reward money and influence, and nothing is likely to change as long as wealth is prized over humanity. But every so often we get a glimpse behind the curtain, and we are rightly appalled.”

More on data centers: Eminent Domain Could Be Used to Seize Your Land for AI Data Centers

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