Kansas city cancels public comment after AI data center death threats

Emporia, Kansas moved its city council meetings to virtual-only format after officials received death threats tied to a planned gigawatt-scale AI data center, a change that also eliminated in-person public comment. The shift follows the arrest of a physics teacher for clapping during a data center hearing.

Why it matters: This marks an escalation from the community pushback and public-review disputes already seen around AI data centers to threats of violence against officials, and a resulting reduction in public participation in the approval process itself. It's a sign that local opposition to AI infrastructure siting is intensifying faster than the permitting processes built to handle it.