Utah data center protest sees woman body slammed, arrested

A Utah County meeting ended in a physical confrontation between deputies and attendees Tuesday night, with one woman arrested.

The dust-up took place at a Utah County Planning Commission meeting, where officials weighed proposed data center zoning changes, according to local outlet KUTV.

Video of the incident appeared to show law enforcement pulling a young woman from her chair and out of the room before taking her to the ground.

The Utah County Sherriff’s Office said in a statement that officers were attempting to escort the woman from the meeting when she refused to leave and began arguing with them.

Additional deputies responded and continued efforts to persuade her to exit voluntarily. Authorities said a deputy then took hold of the woman and began removing her from a row of chairs. During the encounter, the woman allegedly struck a deputy in the groin, and two other individuals grabbed hold of her in an apparent attempt to prevent her removal.

All three individuals were then removed from the chamber and taken to the lobby, where deputies tried to separate them.

“In that process, the female that struck the deputy, and the deputy went to the ground,” the Utah County Sheriff’s Office said.

After the woman was restrained and handcuffed, the woman said her jaw was hurting and needed to use the restroom, according to the statement.

“Deputies called Provo FD EMS to the scene to check on her and facilitated her being able to go to the restroom,” it said. “EMS did not find emergent or immediate injuries and advised her to potentially seek further care later.”

Law enforcement said she was booked into the Utah County Jail on allegations of disrupting a meeting, interference with an arresting officer and assault on a police officer.

This is a developing story, more to follow.