5 ms·

Farmer arrested for speaking too long at datacenter town hall vows to fight

88 points by sudonanohome 6mo ago

josefritzishere 6mo ago
https://archive.ph/2Ermp https://archive.ph/2Ermp
heyitsmedotjayb 6mo ago
[flagged]
- RIMR 6mo ago
  This is how authoritarians speak. Rules only matter when they make sense. An authoritarian never cares about that, and insists on a strict interpretation of the rules, well beyond reason. A 3-minute limit is sensible. Hauling someone off to jail because they spoke for a few seconds too long is tyrannical. You should want better out of the society you live in. Even if you disagree with this farmer, ask yourself if he would have seen the same consequences if he went over the limit speaking in support of this Datacenter (spoiler: of course he wouldn't have). Do you really want to live in a world where people are creatively charged with trespassing, not because of actual malicious action, but because they said something that the powers that be didn't like?
- culi 6mo ago
  [flagged]
wat10000 6mo ago
He was not arrested for speaking too long. He was arrested for trespassing after being asked to leave. This occurred after speaking too long, but the speaking too long is not the reason for the arrest.
- NoMoreNicksLeft 6mo ago
  [flagged]
- happytoexplain 6mo ago
  [flagged]
  - wat10000 6mo ago
    It means that facts matter and the headline is a lie. He was not arrested for speaking too long. He was asked to leave, refused, asked again, refused, and was arrested. Asking him to leave may have been an abuse, but it's a pretty minor one compared to what the headline says.
- LightBug1 6mo ago
  [flagged]
- RIMR 6mo ago
  Look, the article is right there, and what it says doesn't match what you're saying. Sure, they arrested him for "trespassing", but their definition of trespassing was going over his allotted time by a matter of seconds. They did not ask him to leave, and he refused. They counted down the seconds he had the floor, and ordered his arrest the moment he went over the allotted time. I don't know if you've ever been to a Town Hall before, but this is absolutely ridiculous. When you go over your time, you can either ask for more time or be told that you are done. You shouldn't be arrested unless you intentionally refuse to conclude your time, or if you create a disruption. He did neither. They arrested him because they didn't like what he had to say, and they want to send a harsh message to anyone else who dares speak out against Datacenters. This is an egregious violation of First Amendment rights.
  - IncreasePosts 6mo ago
    You're taking the article as gospel. Is there any video for the lead up to the arrest? There was a reddit post with this video, and the poster claimed that he refused to leave the podium after his time was up. Not saying that is true, but it sounds different than "spoke a few seconds too long" https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscurePatentDangers/comments/1shsu8q/people_are_being_arrested_for_speaking_out/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscurePatentDangers/comments/1shsu...
    - RIMR 6mo ago
      Even if that's the case, why not just cut the mic and have security escort him away? Why jump straight to sending the cops to arrest and jail him? It's abundantly clear that these things happen not because people were so disruptive that it was necessary. It is that they are saying things the government doesn't like, so they use the only tool they have as strictly as they are allowed to in an attempt to discourage people from speaking out in the first place. At least this is triggering the Streisand Effect, and now this farmer is getting interviews on the news, not only about the Datacenter, but how the local government treats those who speak out against it.
      - newaiera 6mo ago
- solid_fuel 6mo ago
  Sure man. Nothing says "hacker ethos" like arresting a citizen for going 3 seconds over their allotted free speech time. There are so many bootlickers here on HN these days. A sign of the times, I suppose. But of course, what else can we expect? This is the natural consequence of putting ethics and morality after money. Money always wins. And once you start seeing the world like that, through the lens of "success makes right", you have to bend your view of reality to make it square. And then you wind up here, defending actions like this.
  - wat10000 6mo ago
    Again, that is not what happened. He went over time. He left the podium. He stopped and talked to the council. He was asked to leave. He refused. The police asked him to leave. At that point he made the decision to leave in handcuffs rather than in the normal fashion. Asking him to leave sounds likely to be an abuse, but it's a far cry from "arresting a citizen for going 3 seconds over their allotted free speech time."
  - foobarchu 6mo ago
    Where's the bootlicking? I'd the article chooses to lie about why he was arrested for no reason (and try to paint him as "a farmer" rather than a known activist), then people are going to focus on the untruths and wonder what else the article lies about. There was no need for this article to lie. The actual events were already worth being upset about. It only serves to distract.
sheikhnbake 6mo ago
> 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
- fakedang 6mo ago
  Land of the Free, First Amendment, Right to Free Speech, Democracy, Community Involvement, etc. etc. etc.
  - sheikhnbake 6mo ago
    *for those that can afford it
- johnnyanmac 6mo ago
  Oklahoma, huh? Wish I could be surprised. Even then, hard to tell if this will hold up in court. Town halls should be recorded ("should") and there's inevitable up and downtime for speakers. This is why police have a radar tolerance of 5 mph before trying to write a speeding ticket.
  - IncreasePosts 6mo ago
    It was recorded(linked elsewhere in this thread) and clearly shows that he wasn't merely arrested after going a few seconds over time.
    - johnnyanmac 6mo ago
      I see he stood up at 1:55:00 and by 1:58:28 the security is behind him. I don't know if that's long enough for a trespassing charge to really stick. But then again, Oklohoma.
josefritzishere 6mo ago
Beale Infrastructure exhibits mafia-like, possibly illegal behavior getting city officials to sign NDAs. I suspect kickback schemes and conflicts of interest to be behind this egregious use of lawfare.
wrs 6mo ago
This is basically weak people in authority overreacting from fear and resentment. Same as when the principal expels a student for saying something rude at assembly, or when a bank sues someone for sending in a vulnerability report about their website.
- iepathos 6mo ago
  Not quite the same. Here it wasn't just the overreaction from some weak authority figure. The arresting cop had to knowingly violate established laws. The officers who pursued the charge had to have done the same. That's systematic corruption and failure in the local law enforcement who imo all need to be investigated and fired asap. It's less some weak authority overreacting and more like a whole lot of incompetent people who are supposed to uphold the law actively violating it.
  - wrs 6mo ago
    This is the normal script, though. Authority figure overreaches, violates law either knowingly or (more likely) without even thinking about it. A.F. is sued, judge laughs out loud in court, A.F.'s action is reversed, A.F. becomes even more resentful due to public reversal. This is pretty much what just happened to Anthropic, though we're only partway through the script.
  - AngryData 6mo ago
    I mean that is 100% what I expect from US police. They won't be held liable or responcible for their actions in any way so they don't have to care.
- Rekindle8090 6mo ago
  No its someone highly influential with a low stake. Someone you basically hide the project from until its in the implementation stage because they will kill it without understanding it.
goody71 6mo ago
USA! USA!
JumpCrisscross 6mo ago
Is the datacenter going ahead? Who is building it and who is principally using it? Has the state AG commented on this?
- pera 6mo ago
  > Who is building it and who is principally using it? I was actually just looking into that: Beale Infrastructure, owned by Blue Owl. we saw a gap: some of the largest global hyperscalers—companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google—needed partners who could move at their speed and scale to solve their growing data needs https://wealth.blueowl.com/learnengage/ra/capturing-growth-through-digital-infrastructure-investing https://wealth.blueowl.com/learnengage/ra/capturing-growth-t... The CEO is ex-Azure/Microsoft: https://bealeinfra.com/about/ https://bealeinfra.com/about/
ChrisArchitect 6mo ago
I don't know what he was speaking on at the data center town hall but the followup was a "No Turbines Rally" showing people with "Stop Wind Now" signs. Let's maybe skip this round of 404media ragebait.
- doctorpangloss 6mo ago
  "Everyone complaining about things I like, but is located in their communities, is a crank, except when I'm complaining about stuff in my own community."
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]
Volundr 6mo ago
The article keeps saying he was arrested for going a few seconds over, which is weird because it also contains this statement: "Feary 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,” according to the police report. “Sergeant 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." The video seems to back up that account, showing him being told he needs to leave, and him instead walking to the front with paperwork, before finally being arrested. To be clear I don't think this justifies the charges, but it's weird the article repeatedly frames it like he just went a couple second over and was immediately slapped in cuffs, marched out and charged.
- Leynos 6mo ago
  That's pretty typical of 404 Media's reporting style.
- sheikhnbake 6mo ago
  Even so that's very strange way for a trespassing charge to be carried out if that's how it went down. Typically when someone refuses to leave, police inform the person that they are being formally trespassed, at which point they have the option to leave voluntarily at which point they are only allowed back at the trespassee's discretion. Not sure how that would work for public places where people have to conduct municipal business.
  - wat10000 6mo ago
    According to police, that is what they did. Fellow was given the choice of leaving unrestrained or in handcuffs and he chose the latter option.
    - deleted 6mo ago
      [deleted]
htx80nerd 6mo ago
how dare that commoner insult the Money
buttersicle 6mo ago
[dead]
Leynos 6mo ago
From the article, here is the recording of the meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/xLPF3rTT0mY https://www.youtube.com/live/xLPF3rTT0mY The event in question can be seen around 1:56:00 through 2:00:00 (approx)

88 points by sudonanohome 6mo ago

josefritzishere 6mo ago

https://archive.ph/2Ermp https://archive.ph/2Ermp

heyitsmedotjayb 6mo ago

[flagged]

RIMR 6mo ago
This is how authoritarians speak. Rules only matter when they make sense. An authoritarian never cares about that, and insists on a strict interpretation of the rules, well beyond reason. A 3-minute limit is sensible. Hauling someone off to jail because they spoke for a few seconds too long is tyrannical. You should want better out of the society you live in. Even if you disagree with this farmer, ask yourself if he would have seen the same consequences if he went over the limit speaking in support of this Datacenter (spoiler: of course he wouldn't have). Do you really want to live in a world where people are creatively charged with trespassing, not because of actual malicious action, but because they said something that the powers that be didn't like?
culi 6mo ago
[flagged]

wat10000 6mo ago

He was not arrested for speaking too long. He was arrested for trespassing after being asked to leave. This occurred after speaking too long, but the speaking too long is not the reason for the arrest.

NoMoreNicksLeft 6mo ago
[flagged]
happytoexplain 6mo ago
[flagged]
- wat10000 6mo ago
  It means that facts matter and the headline is a lie. He was not arrested for speaking too long. He was asked to leave, refused, asked again, refused, and was arrested. Asking him to leave may have been an abuse, but it's a pretty minor one compared to what the headline says.
LightBug1 6mo ago
[flagged]
RIMR 6mo ago
Look, the article is right there, and what it says doesn't match what you're saying. Sure, they arrested him for "trespassing", but their definition of trespassing was going over his allotted time by a matter of seconds. They did not ask him to leave, and he refused. They counted down the seconds he had the floor, and ordered his arrest the moment he went over the allotted time. I don't know if you've ever been to a Town Hall before, but this is absolutely ridiculous. When you go over your time, you can either ask for more time or be told that you are done. You shouldn't be arrested unless you intentionally refuse to conclude your time, or if you create a disruption. He did neither. They arrested him because they didn't like what he had to say, and they want to send a harsh message to anyone else who dares speak out against Datacenters. This is an egregious violation of First Amendment rights.
- IncreasePosts 6mo ago
  You're taking the article as gospel. Is there any video for the lead up to the arrest? There was a reddit post with this video, and the poster claimed that he refused to leave the podium after his time was up. Not saying that is true, but it sounds different than "spoke a few seconds too long" https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscurePatentDangers/comments/1shsu8q/people_are_being_arrested_for_speaking_out/ https://www.reddit.com/r/ObscurePatentDangers/comments/1shsu...
  - RIMR 6mo ago
    Even if that's the case, why not just cut the mic and have security escort him away? Why jump straight to sending the cops to arrest and jail him? It's abundantly clear that these things happen not because people were so disruptive that it was necessary. It is that they are saying things the government doesn't like, so they use the only tool they have as strictly as they are allowed to in an attempt to discourage people from speaking out in the first place. At least this is triggering the Streisand Effect, and now this farmer is getting interviews on the news, not only about the Datacenter, but how the local government treats those who speak out against it.
    - newaiera 6mo ago
solid_fuel 6mo ago
Sure man. Nothing says "hacker ethos" like arresting a citizen for going 3 seconds over their allotted free speech time. There are so many bootlickers here on HN these days. A sign of the times, I suppose. But of course, what else can we expect? This is the natural consequence of putting ethics and morality after money. Money always wins. And once you start seeing the world like that, through the lens of "success makes right", you have to bend your view of reality to make it square. And then you wind up here, defending actions like this.
- wat10000 6mo ago
  Again, that is not what happened. He went over time. He left the podium. He stopped and talked to the council. He was asked to leave. He refused. The police asked him to leave. At that point he made the decision to leave in handcuffs rather than in the normal fashion. Asking him to leave sounds likely to be an abuse, but it's a far cry from "arresting a citizen for going 3 seconds over their allotted free speech time."
- foobarchu 6mo ago
  Where's the bootlicking? I'd the article chooses to lie about why he was arrested for no reason (and try to paint him as "a farmer" rather than a known activist), then people are going to focus on the untruths and wonder what else the article lies about. There was no need for this article to lie. The actual events were already worth being upset about. It only serves to distract.

sheikhnbake 6mo ago

> 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

fakedang 6mo ago
Land of the Free, First Amendment, Right to Free Speech, Democracy, Community Involvement, etc. etc. etc.
- sheikhnbake 6mo ago
  *for those that can afford it
johnnyanmac 6mo ago
Oklahoma, huh? Wish I could be surprised. Even then, hard to tell if this will hold up in court. Town halls should be recorded ("should") and there's inevitable up and downtime for speakers. This is why police have a radar tolerance of 5 mph before trying to write a speeding ticket.
- IncreasePosts 6mo ago
  It was recorded(linked elsewhere in this thread) and clearly shows that he wasn't merely arrested after going a few seconds over time.
  - johnnyanmac 6mo ago
    I see he stood up at 1:55:00 and by 1:58:28 the security is behind him. I don't know if that's long enough for a trespassing charge to really stick. But then again, Oklohoma.

josefritzishere 6mo ago

Beale Infrastructure exhibits mafia-like, possibly illegal behavior getting city officials to sign NDAs. I suspect kickback schemes and conflicts of interest to be behind this egregious use of lawfare.

wrs 6mo ago

This is basically weak people in authority overreacting from fear and resentment. Same as when the principal expels a student for saying something rude at assembly, or when a bank sues someone for sending in a vulnerability report about their website.

iepathos 6mo ago
Not quite the same. Here it wasn't just the overreaction from some weak authority figure. The arresting cop had to knowingly violate established laws. The officers who pursued the charge had to have done the same. That's systematic corruption and failure in the local law enforcement who imo all need to be investigated and fired asap. It's less some weak authority overreacting and more like a whole lot of incompetent people who are supposed to uphold the law actively violating it.
- wrs 6mo ago
  This is the normal script, though. Authority figure overreaches, violates law either knowingly or (more likely) without even thinking about it. A.F. is sued, judge laughs out loud in court, A.F.'s action is reversed, A.F. becomes even more resentful due to public reversal. This is pretty much what just happened to Anthropic, though we're only partway through the script.
- AngryData 6mo ago
  I mean that is 100% what I expect from US police. They won't be held liable or responcible for their actions in any way so they don't have to care.
Rekindle8090 6mo ago
No its someone highly influential with a low stake. Someone you basically hide the project from until its in the implementation stage because they will kill it without understanding it.

goody71 6mo ago

USA! USA!

JumpCrisscross 6mo ago

Is the datacenter going ahead? Who is building it and who is principally using it? Has the state AG commented on this?

pera 6mo ago
> Who is building it and who is principally using it? I was actually just looking into that: Beale Infrastructure, owned by Blue Owl. we saw a gap: some of the largest global hyperscalers—companies like Microsoft, Amazon, Google—needed partners who could move at their speed and scale to solve their growing data needs https://wealth.blueowl.com/learnengage/ra/capturing-growth-through-digital-infrastructure-investing https://wealth.blueowl.com/learnengage/ra/capturing-growth-t... The CEO is ex-Azure/Microsoft: https://bealeinfra.com/about/ https://bealeinfra.com/about/

ChrisArchitect 6mo ago

I don't know what he was speaking on at the data center town hall but the followup was a "No Turbines Rally" showing people with "Stop Wind Now" signs. Let's maybe skip this round of 404media ragebait.

doctorpangloss 6mo ago
"Everyone complaining about things I like, but is located in their communities, is a crank, except when I'm complaining about stuff in my own community."
- deleted 6mo ago
  [deleted]

Volundr 6mo ago

The article keeps saying he was arrested for going a few seconds over, which is weird because it also contains this statement: "Feary 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,” according to the police report. “Sergeant 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." The video seems to back up that account, showing him being told he needs to leave, and him instead walking to the front with paperwork, before finally being arrested. To be clear I don't think this justifies the charges, but it's weird the article repeatedly frames it like he just went a couple second over and was immediately slapped in cuffs, marched out and charged.

Leynos 6mo ago
That's pretty typical of 404 Media's reporting style.
sheikhnbake 6mo ago
Even so that's very strange way for a trespassing charge to be carried out if that's how it went down. Typically when someone refuses to leave, police inform the person that they are being formally trespassed, at which point they have the option to leave voluntarily at which point they are only allowed back at the trespassee's discretion. Not sure how that would work for public places where people have to conduct municipal business.
- wat10000 6mo ago
  According to police, that is what they did. Fellow was given the choice of leaving unrestrained or in handcuffs and he chose the latter option.
  - deleted 6mo ago
    [deleted]

htx80nerd 6mo ago

how dare that commoner insult the Money

buttersicle 6mo ago

[dead]

Leynos 6mo ago

From the article, here is the recording of the meeting: https://www.youtube.com/live/xLPF3rTT0mY https://www.youtube.com/live/xLPF3rTT0mY The event in question can be seen around 1:56:00 through 2:00:00 (approx)