Exclusive | Online attacks and Luigi Mangione-inspired death threats in ugly brawl to build California AI megaproject

Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing (IVCM) and its attorney, Sebastian Rucci, have filed a defamation lawsuit against the nonprofit Comite Civico del Valle (CCV) and its executive director, Jose Luis Olmedo Velez. The lawsuit alleges that CCV orchestrated a vicious online campaign, hiring Jake Tison to publish over 100 false and defamatory posts and videos, to derail the construction of a $10 billion AI data center project in Imperial County, California. The suit claims that CCV's efforts are a form of "greenmail extortion," leveraging the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to delay projects and demand settlements. According to the lawsuit, the online attacks led to calls for "public executions" and death threats against Rucci and the project, with followers allegedly threatening to "burn the data center to the ground." Douglas Carstens, an attorney for CCV, dismissed the lawsuit as meritless, asserting that CCV engages in good-faith policy advocacy to protect communities from environmental harms. This legal action is part of a broader conflict surrounding the data center, which is poised to become the state's largest AI data supplier, with Google reportedly a potential tenant, though the company denies involvement. The project, proposed in 2024, has already seen the city of Imperial sue the county over a CEQA exemption, and Rucci has also sued the city. Residents have voiced concerns about health impacts, utility price hikes, and the environmental strain, particularly the significant water usage of data centers in a desert region. The ongoing battles highlight the challenges of developing large data centers in California's stringent regulatory environment.