Kansas Data Center Clap Back Redux

We talked about this story last week . . . Today local prog blog journalists offer their take on the topic with a wordy bit of follow-up and progressive spin. 

Smarter people have asked us . . .

Why didn't anybody speak up for him at the time and maybe help elected officials understand that limits public expression aren't just "a bad look" but a threat to the democratic process.   

Here's the postscript for those who didn't see this one in their feed . .  . 

"Lux Claridge has become the face of data center resistance for my town of Emporia, in east-central Kansas, and much of the nation, because video of their arrest after clapping at a July 22 city commission meeting went hyperscale. Yes, clapping. There were at least three television stations on hand and dozens of smartphones in hand to capture Claridge being hauled by police out of the commission room at city hall, up the steps outside and into the back seat of a police car.

"The video was carried by CNN and the arrest was reported in outlets as varied as the New York Post and 404 Media. As Wichita Eagle columnist Dion Lefler dryly noted, “this was not a good look for Emporia.”

"But the optics have been painful ever since the data center proposal was unveiled June 2 and the city commission unanimously voted to annex 1,000 acres for the project on the west edge of town the very next day, despite heavy public opposition. Where was the fire? It was coming from inside the station all along. City leaders have been ignoring the public and committing civic arson ever since."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Clap during a city meeting in Emporia and you too might be hustled off to jail. Just ask Lux. * Kansas Reflector