Data Center Protester Accused Of Groin Strike Before Deputy ‘Slammed’ Her Down

A data center protester was slammed to the ground by a deputy she allegedly struck moments earlier.

Anti-data center protester Aspen Azalea was taken down by a Utah County sheriff’s deputy Tuesday after a Utah County Planning Commission meeting on data center zoning rules, KUTV reported. This confrontation is the latest flashpoint in growing local pushback against data centers across the country.

“He turns the corner, and he puts his weight into the turn, and he slammed me into the ground,” Azalea told KUTV.

During the altercation, Azalea hit the deputy below the belt, the sheriff’s office claimed to KUTV. However, Azalea denies kicking the deputy and argued “they singled me out” among many screaming protesters. 

Meanwhile, another male protester was removed peacefully by the sheriff’s office without incident, prior to the altercation, KUTV reported.

The initial video, posted Tuesday on X, shows the moment the deputy forces the protester to the ground. As she is being handcuffed from the ground, she says her jaw hurts and that her face was shoved to the floor.

“That sound you hear in the video is my jaw hitting the ground,” Azalea told KUTV.

The protest group, UT for the People Not Tech Billionaires, describes itself as “[a] statewide platform uniting data center struggles across Utah toward a people’s program for AI development,” according to it’s Instagram biography.

UT for the People Not Tech Billionaires did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.