The Data-Center Revolt
The AI build-out has reached nearly every state — and so has the backlash. As residents pack town halls to fight the water, power, and land demands of hyperscale data centers, a growing number are being dragged from meetings, jailed, and charged with felonies. This page tracks the people facing arrest for that dissent, and the surveillance now trained on them.
Data centers in Ashburn, Va. Photo: Theodore Christopher / CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
June 5 — New York sends Hochul a statewide data-center freeze
The New York Legislature passed the Responsible Data Center Development Act, a one-year moratorium on new permits for large (20+ MW) data centers, and sent it to Governor Hochul. If she signs, New York would be the first state to enact such a freeze — Maine's governor vetoed a similar bill in April. Read more →
An infrastructure gold rush meets a backlash
The race to build artificial intelligence has touched off the largest construction boom in the history of computing. More than 4,000 data centers already operate across the United States, with thousands more announced or under construction, and Big Tech is on track to spend roughly $700 billion on AI infrastructure in 2025 alone. (American Edge Project / Axios; Dec. 2025)
Those campuses draw staggering amounts of electricity and water, and they are increasingly proposed next to homes, farms, and schools. The result has been a bipartisan, hyper-local revolt: residents flooding county commissions and city councils, winning moratoriums, and stalling tens of billions of dollars in projects. As the meetings have grown more crowded and more heated, officials have answered with speaking-time buzzers, removals, citations — and, in a striking number of cases, felony charges.
"Your address is public information and I can protest in front of your house all day and night until you gain humanity and ban this data center."
— Harley Delander, the Dixon, Illinois resident later charged with three felonies, recounting the message that led to his arrest (Business Insider, May 2026)
When opposing a data center became an "extremism indicator"
A fusion center put First Amendment activity on a threat list
In June 2026, The Intercept revealed a confidential law-enforcement bulletin from the Delaware Valley Intelligence Center — a fusion center housed inside the Philadelphia Police Department — that listed "disruptive First Amendment activity" as an indicator of risk from "domestic violent extremists" in the context of opposition to AI data centers.
The December alert leaned on social-media posts, Facebook memes, and even references to the novel Dune, while conceding "a lack of specific information on plans to target AI data centers." A police spokesperson confirmed the monitoring; a civil-rights attorney called it a chilling attempt to recast ordinary protest as a security threat. (The Intercept, June 1, 2026)
The people facing prosecution
Residents arrested, jailed, or charged in connection with opposition to a data center. Details are drawn from local reporting and official statements; charges and outcomes continue to change. These cases are also plotted on the NPPC live tracker.
Harley Delander
Dixon, Illinois · Age 28
Charged with intimidation, stalking, and cyberstalking in late May 2026 — roughly twelve hours after posting a Facebook event to organize a protest near the home of Tom Demmer, a former state representative leading a group courting a data-center developer near Rock Falls. His attorney said they would weigh "the important First Amendment issues" in the case; Delander says he is counting on free speech as his defense.
Coverage of Harley Delander →Anthony Hinojosa
Trenton, Illinois · Age 33
Charged by the Madison County State's Attorney with intimidation, filing a false report, and electronic harassment — with a felony hold for terroristic threats — over February 2026 Facebook posts that threatened to kill Troy, Illinois officials if they did not halt discussions of a proposed data center. He was released under Illinois' SAFE-T Act.
Coverage of Anthony Hinojosa →Diego Joe
El Centro, California · Age 22
Arrested near the El Centro Public Library on April 16, 2026 and booked on a felony criminal-threats charge plus a misdemeanor online-harassment count, after allegedly posting threats in a local Facebook group against data-center developer Sebastian Rucci. He was held on $20,000 bail.
Coverage of Diego Joe →Ismael Arvizu
El Centro, California · Age 26
Arrested at an April 2026 Imperial County Board of Supervisors meeting after speaking against a lot-merger for a 950,000-square-foot data center, which he said would benefit billionaires at residents' expense. He was charged with trespassing, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest, and threatening a public official.
Coverage of Ismael Arvizu →Darren Blanchard
Claremore, Oklahoma · Farmer
A farmer who ran about thirty seconds past his three-minute limit while opposing "Project Mustang," a Beale Infrastructure data center, at a February 17, 2026 Claremore City Council hearing. When he stepped toward the dais to hand over paperwork, the city manager had police remove him; he was booked into the Rogers County Jail on a trespassing charge he calls retaliatory and has vowed to fight.
Coverage of Darren Blanchard →Christine LeJeune
Port Washington, Wisconsin · Resident
One of three residents taken into custody at a December 2, 2025 Common Council meeting over a 902-megawatt data center tied to the OpenAI–Oracle "Stargate" project. Seconds after her buzzer she led a "recall" chant; officers moved to remove her, she went limp and was dragged from the room, and two residents who tried to intervene were also detained. All three were cited for disorderly conduct.
Coverage of Christine LeJeune →Pablo Payan
Hobart, Indiana · Age 42
Arrested for criminal trespass and disorderly conduct at a May 7, 2026 Hobart Plan Commission meeting on an Amazon–NIPSCO data center. After he declined to give his name and address for the record and kept speaking, video shows an officer pushing him over a railing before handcuffing him. Payan disputes the city's account and says he plans to pursue legal action.
Coverage of Pablo Payan →Flashpoints, coast to coast
Beyond the arrests, the data-center fight has filled hearing rooms and statehouses in dozens of communities — and, in one case, turned violent. A sampling of recent flashpoints:
| Place | Date | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| Bessemer, AL | Sep 13, 2025 | Residents pack a listening session against a 675-acre hyperscale data center. WBRC → |
| Memphis, TN | Oct 4, 2025 | "Tigers Against Pollution" march downtown against Elon Musk's xAI "Colossus." Commercial Appeal → |
| Prince William County, VA | Nov 5, 2025 | Residents protest a Dominion data-center transmission line at an open house. FOX 5 DC → |
| Tucker County, WV | Dec 3, 2025 | Residents rally at a state air-quality hearing over a data-center permit. WV MetroNews → |
| Knox, IN | Dec 4, 2025 | Hundreds pack a high school; the plan commission backs a moratorium. WKVI → |
| Lansing, MI | Dec 16, 2025 | Residents rally at the Michigan Capitol against data-center projects. WILX → |
| Harwood, ND | Jan 12, 2026 | A reported JD Vance visit draws an impromptu protest at the Applied Digital site. Grand Forks Herald → |
| Festus, MO | Mar 30, 2026 | Residents pack a high-school gym to oppose a $6B data center before a council vote. St. Louis Public Radio → |
| Indianapolis, IN | Apr 6, 2026 | Thirteen shots hit a councilman's home with a "No Data Centers" note left behind — a violent act condemned across the movement. CBS News → |
| Perry Village, OH | Apr 9, 2026 | A crowd packs the village hall to protest a data-center project. News 5 Cleveland → |
| Andover Township, NJ | May 7, 2026 | A resident is forcibly removed from a committee meeting (no charges filed) as the township weighs a data-center ban. DataCenter Dynamics → |
| Reno, NV | May 14, 2026 | Reno becomes the first Nevada city to pause new data centers after a packed meeting. Las Vegas Review-Journal → |
| East Fishkill, NY | May 21, 2026 | Residents rally against a proposed data center as a statewide moratorium advances. Food & Water Watch → |
| Salt Lake City, UT | May 23, 2026 | More than 600 rally at the Utah Capitol against a Box Elder data center. KSL → |
| Shalersville Township, OH | May 29, 2026 | Hundreds rally against a proposed Bitdeer data center near the Ohio Turnpike. Cleveland 19 → |
| Belton, TX | Jun 1, 2026 | Bell County residents pack commissioners court to oppose a Temple data center. KWTX → |
| Morris, IL | Jun 2, 2026 | Hundreds rally against a proposed hyperscale data center. WCSJ News → |
Trackers & campaigns
Selected coverage
- Philly cops admit they're tracking "First Amendment activity" critical of AI — The Intercept The Intercept · June 1, 2026
- State and local opposition to new data centers is gaining steam — NBC News NBC News · June 2026
- Communities are blocking billions in data centers — Fortune Fortune · May 18, 2026
- 7 in 10 Americans oppose data centers being built in their communities — Washington Post Washington Post · May 13, 2026
- Ocasio-Cortez and Sanders push a bill for a federal AI data-center moratorium — PBS NewsHour PBS NewsHour · March 2026
- A councilman backed a data center — then 13 bullets and a "No Data Centers" note hit his home — Fortune Fortune · April 7, 2026
Methodology & sources
This briefing compiles arrests, charges, and protests connected to opposition to AI data centers, drawn from local news reporting, official law-enforcement statements, and court records. Each case and flashpoint links to its source.
We include cases where a person was arrested, cited, jailed, or charged in connection with data-center opposition — whether for conduct at a public meeting or for online speech. We distinguish these from acts of violence: the Indianapolis shooting is listed as a flashpoint, not as a protest case, and was condemned by opposition groups. Several national totals (the number of U.S. data centers, the value of blocked projects) vary by source and methodology; we cite the trackers we rely on and note their backers where relevant.
Charges and outcomes change as cases move through the courts. Spot an error or a case we've missed? Let us know.
These fights are happening near you.
Explore every documented case on the live tracker, or tell us about an arrest or protest in your community.