Activist Helps Kill Data Center Proposal That Actually Sort Of Made Sense

An anti-data center activist helped stall a project planned for an abandoned mall just outside Washington, D.C. — and now she wants her county to ban them all.

Taylor Frazier McCollum, also known as “the Landover girl,” started a petition that drew more than 25,000 signatures against a $5 billion data center project, which was planned for the empty site of a former mall in Landover, Maryland, WAMU reported. Local opposition to data centers led to roughly 40 communities voting to restrict or ban projects in the Nov. 3 midterm elections — and the issue was “crucial” for 23 percent of voters, according to CNN’s exit poll.

“I was like, ‘Oh, hell no,'” Frazier McCollum said, WAMU reported. “Why would you want to bring water-polluting, diesel-generating data centers right down the street from where people live, work, play? It just didn’t make sense to me.”

The petition and subsequent protests led to local data center moratoriums, and the Landover data center is now on hold, according to WAMU.

A local official, Council Member Wanika Fisher, told Frazier McCollum the county’s “economic future” must be addressed, WAMU reported. The county is facing major concerns, including poor economic conditions, a budget deficit, decreased tax revenue and job loss.

Frazier McCollum was evicted from her apartment in 2024 and learned about the proposed data center when she moved in with her grandfather, WAMU reported. She now advocates for data centers in her community to be banned and said she needs to set a “precedent” for the country. 

Lerner Enterprises — the developer behind the data center, county officials and Frazier McCollum did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

Lacy McCollum Jr., Frazier McCollum’s father, compared his daughter’s work to that of civil rights activists and said data centers are about a “right” to water, air and homes, according to WAMU.

“While I’m afraid for her, we need those people,” McCollum Jr. said, WAMU reported. “We needed the Medgar Evers. We needed the Martin Luther Kings. We needed the Malcolm X’s. People like Taylor, they jump out here so the people behind them get to make progress.”