Woman was shoved to the ground when people protested at a New Mexico AI data center meeting, and it happened after they yelled ‘let us speak’

A New Mexico AI data center meeting reportedly turned chaotic when people began protesting. After the meeting ended, the protest turned into an altercation, and a woman was reportedly shoved to the ground while others were arrested. The incident was recorded and is spreading on social media. 

According to The Nerd Stash, the incident stemmed from a disagreement among people enthusiastic towards the Oracle Data Center, which is to be located in Saint Teresa. However, an altercation occurred at a Doña Ana County commissioners’ meeting over the AI Data center. The project has been contentious among locals and authorities over concerns about water and electricity consumption and the returns on economic development, given the high construction costs. The altercation broke out after the meeting concluded, and the people opposed to it were allegedly not given a chance to speak on the matter, as reported by the Albuquerque Journal.

The protesters shouted, “Let us speak,” and moved to the front of the room where two deputies tried to remove them. The altercation became tense when the deputies tried to remove one of the people from the room. During the altercation, a 26-year-old woman nursing assistant, Abegail Salugsugan, was shoved to the ground twice and was later taken into custody. She was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting or obstructing an officer, according to KVIA. Two others, including 33-year-old Kiki Garden and 50-year-old Orin Parnell, were also arrested.

Viewers expressed concern over the deputies’ actions during the altercation

The video of the altercation was posted on Twitter/X by @LongTimeHistory, garnering over 130,000 views. As the video gained traction, people shared their opinions, with most expressing concern about deputies taking action. As one of the commenters stated, “God forbid an American citizen exercise their constitutionally protected right to free speech. No wonder she got slammed to the ground. People get rich from data centers; that’s why Politicians will never say no to them.”

Others appeared to echo the same sentiments as the protesters, as one of the commenters wrote, “We don’t need cameras. We don’t need data centers. We don’t need foreigners. We need to enforce our own laws. Politicians that work for US taxpayers. Gov’t that is paying down debt, stopping fraud, and protecting our kids.” Another one added, “The elites are getting far too comfortable hiding behind the law. They’ve tread well into the territory of abusing the law. They’re actively being bought off. I want to know how many city council members are new members to country clubs, suddenly bought new boats or cars.”

This seemed to be the feedback on the incident involving the AI data center. No confirmed post-arrest quote from the 26-year-old woman was found.