In February, Oklahoma native Darren Blanchard attended a city council meeting in Claremore with the plan to speak out against a proposed datacenter in the community. When he went a few seconds over his allotted 3 minute time limit, the city ordered Blanchard arrested and transported to the county jail. The city charged Blanchard with trespassing, according to police records 404 Media has obtained about the incident. Blanchard has vowed to fight the charges.The arrest occurred on February 17 during a Claremore City Council meeting where city officials were set to hear from the public about Project Mustang, a proposed data center. City residents are concerned about the datacenters’ use of water, what might happen to their electricity bills, and how noisy the building will be. Answers aren\u2019t forthcoming and Beale Infrastructure, the company behind the datacenter, won\u2019t talk to local media and has gotten city officials to sign non-disclosure agreements.<\/p>\n
According to the police report we obtained, city officials and police expected a huge crowd for the city council meeting and leased space from Rogers State University to accommodate everyone. Claremore also established a speaking limit and notified participants when their time was up as the meeting proceeded.When Blanchard rose to speak, he went a few seconds over his time limit and the city officials immediately sent the cops after him. \u201cDarren Blanchard was called to speak and did. Blanchard continued speaking past the predetermined limit established at the start of the meeting. City Manager John Feary addressed Blanchard, informing him to stop, and he continued,\u201d the police report said.\u201cFeary then notified police to have Blanchard removed. I informed Blanchard that he was asked to leave and needed to do so. Blanchard then continued to the front of the room where counselors sat behind a table and insisted on giving them paperwork,\u201d according to the police report. \u201cSergeant Singer then directed me to place Blanchard under arrest for trespassing. Blanchard was placed in handcuffs, escorted from the property, and transported to Rogers County Jail.\u201dThe City charged Blanchard with trespassing, a municipal crime that carries a penalty of $200. A week after the arrest, Blanchard appeared in court and pleaded not guilty. \u201cWe feel that he was arrested unconstitutionally against his first amendment rights to petition his government and to free speech,\u201d Colleen McCarty, Blanchard\u2019s lawyer, told Tulsa NewsChannel 8 outside the courtroom after he entered his plea.Since his arrest, Blanchard has made several public appearances speaking out against datacenters and recounting what happened at the meeting. \u201cTrue story. I was at a public meeting a few weeks ago and went slightly over my speaking time and got thrown in the slammer there in China, I mean Rogers county,\u201d he said at an anti-data center rally in March. \u201cBoy I tell ya, James Maddison is rolling in his grave. It\u2019s funny they tried to silence me by stripping me of my rights but in turn they\u2019ve given me an even bigger platform to spread my message.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"