Facebook\/NIMBY, Imperial<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe group also hired Jake Tison to allegedly create a brutal online campaign, \u201cpublishing over 100 false and defamatory posts and videos across social media platforms\u201d in an effort to make IVCM and Rucci look bad, according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n
Tison\u2019s purported online posts called Rucci a \u201clife-long fraud\u201d and accused him of violating the California Environmental Quality Act, a statute that has become notorious for being leveraged to gum up development projects across the state, court documents obtained by The California Post said.<\/p>\n\n<\/aside>\nThe suit alleges Tison spread false posts that Rucci had been thrown in jail for fraud. In reality, Rucci did spend a month in jail but for a misdemeanor liquor license violation, not fraud, according to the suit.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tison\u2019s alleged online attacks then spiraled into something more violent and dangerous when his followers began to read his posts, according to Rucci and IVCM.<\/p>\n Superior Court of California<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Superior Court of California<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe lawsuit alleges Tison\u2019s followers commented things like \u201cpublic executions\u201d and threatened to \u201cburn the data center to the ground.\u201d \u201cWhy can\u2019t somebody just get him like Luigi did with the UntiedHealthcare CEO,\u201d another wrote.<\/p>\n
CC presents itself as an environmental justice nonprofit, but has \u201cperfected a lucrative greenmail extortion racket: it files CEQA challenges to delay projects, then demands massive \u201cpublic benefit\u201d settlements that it alone controls,\u201d according to the documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefendants also engaged in environmental terrorism by intimidating Imperial County Supervisors with threats of \u201cslaughter at the voting booth\u201d and placing their photos on milk cartons to coerce denial of a ministerial lot merger,\u201d according to the documents.<\/p>\nSebastian Rucci of Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing Sebastian Rucci<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRucci\u2019s lawsuit is the latest salvo in the furious battle to build the state\u2019s largest artificial intelligence data supplier. Google is in line to become the tenant of the data goliath should the project get built, according to written communications included in the court documents obtained by the Post. communications reviewed by The Post. A Google spokesperson said the company isn\u2019t involved with the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe ultimate tenant will surface when the environmental terrorists, and their hired-thug propagandists, are forced to scatter like cockroaches after being exposed for their actions,\u201d Rucci said in an interview with The Post. \u201cThey are extortionists, not environmentalists.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the California Morning Report newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCalifornia’s top news, sports and entertainment delivered to your inbox every day.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\t\t\t\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n Douglas Carstens, an attorney for CCV, said in a statement: \u201cThis lawsuit is meritless and its foundational claims lack a factual basis. The intention of this lawsuit should be questioned by all who value transparency, community voice, and the fundamental right of organizations to engage in good-faith policy advocacy on issues affecting the health, environment, and future of the Imperial Valley. CCV has worked tirelessly to ensure communities are protected from the environmental harms that proposed projects can bring, and those efforts should not be misconstrued.\u201d<\/p>\nNIMBY protesters against a proposed data center. Facebook\/NIMBY, Imperial<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRucci said he has the stomach to take on the activists but it\u2019s a drag on time and resources. He said onerous state regulations can easily be hijacked to make building near impossible.<\/p>\n
The Imperial county project demonstrates the challenges of building large data centers in California, despite the state being the technology capital of the world. Khara Boender, who lobbies on behalf of data center development for the Data Center Coalition, said developers are increasingly considering moving potential projects out of state because of the tough regulatory environment.<\/p>\n Superior Court of California<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n Superior Court of California<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\nRucci\u2019s company, Imperial Valley Computer Manufacturing, says the $10 billion project will create jobs and generate $28.75 million in annual property tax revenue.<\/p>\n
The project has already featured a headspinning amount of drama since it was proposed in 2024: The city of Imperial has sued the county, arguing the project should not have received an exemption from California Environmental Quality Act. Rucci then sued the city earlier this year, in addition to now suing the activists who oppose the project.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Last month, the Imperial County Board of Supervisors held a meeting to solicit feedback from residents and allow Rucci to try to warm them up. The meeting ended, according to Rucci, with him having to evacuate because tensions involving residents and activists nearly boiled over as protestors chanted \u201cWe don\u2019t care! It\u2019s hot air!\u201d<\/p>\n
In written comments posted by the county, residents cite a litany of concerns about the project, including the health impacts on nearby neighborhoods, potential utility price hikes and the environmental strain of building a water intensive data center in a desert. Data centers use large amounts of water to cool equipment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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