Police arrested a high school physics teacher for clapping during a city council meeting last Wednesday. Teacher Lux Claridge went to a meeting of the Emporia, Kansas City Commission on July 22 with their spouse and brother. All three were there to speak out against a proposed hyperscale data center that would sit on 1,000 acres of rural land in Emporia. They left the meeting in handcuffs, dragged out by police on the orders of a city commissioner.
Emporia PD denied 404 Media’s request for a copy of Claridge’s arrest report. “The requested record is part of an active criminal investigation. As such, it is considered a criminal investigative record,” Emporia PD told 404 Media. “At this time, the Emporia Police Department is denying your request, as disclosure of the requested report could interfere with ongoing investigative efforts. Therefore, the record will not be released.” 404 Media has formally appealed this decision.
The Emporia City Council met on July 22 and planned to vote on zoning ordinances that would pave the way for the massive Flint Hills Digital Campus data center. Dozens of people from Emporia showed up to speak out against the project. The meeting went on almost five hours — much of it over community concerns about the data center. The small room where the council met could only fit around 30 people. Others waited to speak in a hallway outside or in two nearby overflow rooms.
The overwhelming majority of Emporia’s residents did not want it. There was a strict two minute time limit on public comments and the commissioners repeatedly warned people in the room not to clap or make noise. Attendees clapped anyway, though usually quickly and politely. Again, there were not many people in the room and it was not a rowdy meeting.
But the clapping upset the commissioners. “It was very clear at the beginning that everyone was given their two minutes and we’re trying to be respectful of that. Snapping, clapping, rude comments or anything, and we’ll ask you to leave. You’ve been finally warned and we’re done,” city commissioner Monica Duncan said about 50 minutes into the meeting.
Claridge clapped a few minutes later as a speaker finished and their spouse—Jessica Danford—took the podium.
“Chief, will you take the next person out who claps or anything? Please.” Duncan said. “Sorry, I’m done.”
Emporia’s police chief approached Claridge and asked them to leave. “I have a right to speak,” they said.
“Come on,” the police said.
“Drag me out,” Claridge said. “Drag me out.”Then the police physically raised Claridge up, handcuffed them, and dragged them out. They were later charged with disorderly conduct and interference with police.
Danford panicked as she watched police arrest Claridge. “Take a breath,” Emporia mayor Becky Smith said.“That’s my spouse down there,” Danford said.
“I know. I know. Take a breath,” Smith said.“Please don’t hurt them,” Danford said.
“Let him stay!” People begin to shout in the room.“They can all leave,” commissioner Duncan said, pointing her finger at the room. Then the commissioners shut down the camera feed for the meeting. It resumed about 10 minutes later. Danford was back at the podium and delivered her prepared remarks speaking out against the data center.
A few minutes later, Claridge’s brother David — who is running for state representative — took the podium. “I really look forward to making life hard for you when I get to the statehouse,” he said. “Because you removed my older sibling against their constitutional first amendment rights. This is ridiculous. I have never seen politicians so abundantly terrible at their PR. It is insane. You had someone from the opposition removed for clapping because they enjoyed a speech another member made.”
David told 404 Media that they were angry when police removed his brother. “I was enraged and had to consistently remind myself that a felony battery charge would disqualify me from office,” David told 404 Media. “I don’t understand how the commission could think it was a good idea when they are already being so heavily scrutinized. I’m running for office obviously, and I cannot imagine how they thought this political theater would paint them as anything other than a mustache twirling fascist.”
At the end of the evening the commissioners voted 5 – 0 to approve the data center zoning measure.
Emporia, Kansas is like many other towns and cities that are fighting against data centers. It’s small, with a population of around 20,000, and the details around the data center development are shrouded in mystery. The Flint Hills Digital Campus is supposedly the brainchild of developer Gary Pinkston. He penned an op-ed published in the local paper the Emporia Gazette about the importance of the data center for the future of the area. The op-ed was also posted on the website for the Flint HIlls Digital Campus.
Pinkston has also recently declared federal bankruptcy and in public testimony revealed by related to that, he told his creditors that he wasn’t involved with the Flint Hills Digital Campus at all. It was, he said, his daughter’s project. “I did not write this,” Pinkston told his creditors when questioned about the op-ed. The Flint HIlls Digital Campus website is now offline. The Emporia Gazette published recordings from Pinkston’s bankruptcy hearing on July 20, two days before an Emporia City Commission meeting where police arrested Claridge.
The police posted a comment about the incident on Facebook. “During the course of the meeting, several individuals in attendance were issued verbal warnings by the City Commission regarding disruptive conduct that was interrupting the proceedings,” the Emporia Police Department said in a statement on Facebook. “One individual, Lux Claridge […] continued this behavior and was directed to leave the meeting. Claridge did not comply with law enforcement’s efforts to remove [them] from the premises, requiring officers to physically carry [them] out of the meeting.”
According to Emporia PD, Claridge was booked at the Lyon County Jail on charges of interference with law enforcement and disorderly conduct. “The Emporia Police Department remains committed to ensuring public meetings are conducted safely and in an orderly manner, while also respecting the rights of all citizens to participate in the civic process,” it said in its Facebook statement.
