Indiana mayor secretly recorded saying AI data center protestors only live in 'sh***y' houses — office issues statement of clarification over controversial comments

Scott Ferguson (R), the mayor of Shelbyville, Indiana, was caught on camera insulting community members who were opposed to a proposed data center project near the city. The mayor's office has been forced to issue a statement after he was secretly recorded claiming he had only seen 'No AI data center' signs in "sh***y," unkempt houses.

Shelbyville is a city of 20,000 people located around 30 miles southwest of Indianapolis International Airport and is the county seat of Shelby County. Fox 59 reports that its city council has advanced a billion-dollar data center proposal in the area, amid increasing resistance from the public.

“I’ve seen a lot of these all over town, but I only see ‘em in sh***y houses with sh***y,” Ferguson was recorded commenting on "No AI data center" protest signs. Another person cut him off and corrected him, saying, “You see them in working class houses.” The mayor then continued, saying, “most of them are rentals.” Another off-camera speaker said, “It doesn’t matter whether they’re rentals, they’re still human beings.” To which he answered, “Yeah, I know, but they’re unkempt properties.” It’s not clear if Scott knew he was being recorded.

These comments have understandably caused a lot of controversy, and the video has blown up online. One commenter said, “Tell us you aren’t getting paid under the table without telling us,” while another added, “Wow… So, we know who the expendable people are for him.” Another person said, “Disgusting behavior. Who insults their constituents?”

In response to this, the mayor’s office released a statement saying, “The Mayor regrets that his choice of words may have caused offense. His comments were intended to reference property maintenance and not the character, value, or importance of any resident, homeowner, or renter in our community.”

Ferguson’s offhand remarks are adding a lot of fuel to the fire against data centers. The project that the Shelbyville city council approved is a 429-acre site that will play host to 11 data center structures. Fox59 reports that more than 2,000 people signed a petition against the project, but were ultimately ignored by the council. Despite the city council giving it a go signal, the data center developer must still go through several other hoops before it can begin construction.

The majority of Americans are now against having a data center constructed in their community, especially as several issues of increased utility prices and poor water quality have been linked to recent projects.

It has gotten so bad that many town halls and meetings have become contentious, and a few politicians who supported data centers are becoming quite defensive. For example, one farmer was arrested for going a few seconds over the allotted speaking time and was charged with trespassing in court. A Utah State Senator also slapped the phone out of the hand of a reporter who was covering the public harassment against his employees for his support for another project in the state. Most worryingly, one Indianapolis politician had their home shot at by an unknown assailant who left a “No Data Center” sign after the incident.

With the debates around data centers becoming more passionate than ever, some U.S. authorities are now worried that “anti-tech extremists” will take advantage of the situation and execute acts of violence against AI data centers. On the other hand, critics say that this could lead to mass surveillance and even the criminalization of peaceful opposition to data center projects.

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