Disorder Delays Memphis Council Vote on Proposed Data Center Moratorium
A disorderly Memphis City Council meeting delayed consideration of a proposed 12-month moratorium on new data center development. Opponents called for a pause to study impacts on neighborhoods, utilities and the environment, and fights broke out before the meeting was halted.
A heated Memphis City Council meeting over Ordinance 5982, which would impose a 12-month pause on processing and approving permits for new data centers, ended in shouting, protests and physical fights. The council had been scheduled to hold the ordinance’s third and final reading, but leaders halted the meeting and delayed the vote amid the disorder.
Opponents filled City Hall and urged officials to temporarily stop new development while the city studies effects on neighborhoods, utilities and the environment. Councilwoman Yolanda Cooper-Sutton was reportedly removed from the meeting after an argument with protesters. The confrontation occurred as Memphis faces rapid data center expansion, including operations attributed to SpaceXAI; authorities had not announced whether anyone was arrested.