A physics teacher was arrested for clapping a speaker who criticised a planned data centre at a public meeting in the US last week.

Lux Claridge was dragged away by police at the meeting in Emporia, Kansas, prompting a plea of “please don’t hurt them” from the resident who had been speaking.

​Attendees at the meeting had been warned to avoid “snapping, clapping” and “rude comments” by mayor Becky Smith, but Claridge insisted he had a right to applaud speakers.

“I have a right to clap… drag me out,” he said.

“Claridge did not comply with law enforcement’s efforts to remove him from the premises, requiring officers to physically carry him out of the meeting,” Emporia police said in a statement.

He was charged with disorderly conduct and interference with law enforcement. He was later released on bail.

​”I’m glad to be out, but this is an inconvenience, really,” Claridge told the local KWCH news station. “It’s not really deterring me from speaking out or, I guess, clapping.”

His trial is set for September and he plans to plead not guilty.

​Residents attended the 22 July meeting to oppose the planned Flint Hills Digital Campus data centre.

Opposition to data centres has exploded across the US in recent months. Grassroots groups blocked 75 projects worth $130bn between 1 January and 31 March 2026, figures from Data Center Watch show.

The number of anti-data centre groups, meanwhile, has doubled to 833 across 49 states.

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