Shreveport city council disrupted over secretive AI data center proposal
Shreveport, LA – On December 18, community members packed a Shreveport city council meeting Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m. to oppose a proposed artificial intelligence data center being introduced through a special use permit. The meeting became a flashpoint for public anger over secrecy, environmental harm and corporate control of local government.
City council members met to discuss and vote on the proposal despite having signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) that conceal critical details of the project from the public. Organizers argue that these NDAs block residents from accessing information that directly affects their health, environment and public resources.
After the public comments period, approximately 15 community members stood and disrupted the meeting, chanting, “City council hear our voice, we demand the people’s choice.” Protesters denounced the proposal as a corporate giveaway to outside developers and condemned what they described as “blood money” being offered by ruling-class interests.
Six Shreveport Police Department officers were stationed inside the chamber throughout the meeting. As soon as residents began chanting, additional officers were called in, bringing the total police presence to nearly ten. The swift escalation of police presence highlighted the city’s readiness to suppress dissent rather than meaningfully engage with the concerns raised by those most directly affected by the proposal.
The action was organized by a coalition of multiple organizations. A petition opposing the AI data center, circulated by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), had surpassed 900 signatures by the time of the action, demonstrating widespread opposition across Shreveport.
After the disruption, protesters were escorted out of the council chamber by police. Rather than disperse, protesters regrouped outside Government Plaza, where they held a rally, distributed flyers and continued organizing. Protesters publicly called out corporate donors they say are attempting to influence city officials through closed-door deals, as officers maintained a visible presence nearby.
Paytan Rayne, a community organizer with the Shreveport-Bossier Anti-War Committee and a member of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, spoke to the media during the action. Rayne emphasized that the protest reflected a pattern of exclusion enforced through both political and police power.
“This action comes from a community tired of decisions made against them, without them,” Rayne said. “As a community just miles north of Cancer Alley, already feeling the effects of harmful chemicals and toxic gases in our air, we know in the Shreveport-Bossier Anti-War Committee that this is economic warfare,” Rayne stated. “Stripping vulnerable communities of already-needed funding is economic warfare.”
Organizers warn that large-scale AI data centers place extreme strain on water and energy infrastructure while offering few benefits to residents. They criticized the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence as corporations consolidate data, computing power and energy resources in pursuit of profit, regardless of the social and environmental costs imposed on working-class communities.