Home of US Politician Supporting Data Centres Shot—Then Gunman Left 'No Data Centers' Note at Door

An Indianapolis politician who backed a proposed data centre in his district says his home was sprayed with gunfire in the early hours of Monday, before the attacker allegedly left a note reading 'No Data Centers' at his front door.

Ron Gibson, a Democratic city-county councillor in Indianapolis, said he and his eight-year-old son were inside the house when 13 shots were fired at around 12.45 am, in what police believe was a targeted attack.

The shooting came only days after Indianapolis's Metropolitan Development Commission approved a rezoning petition for a Metrobloks data centre project in Gibson's district. The development had already drawn opposition from some residents and local leaders, who raised concerns over community impact, utility strain, and the devastating footprint of large-scale AI infrastructure.

FBI to Investigate Identity of Shooter

The details are stark enough without embellishment. Gibson said the bullets landed just steps away from the dining room table where his son had been playing with Lego the previous day. 'That reality is deeply unsettling,' he said. 'This was not just an attack on my home, but endangered my child and disrupted the safety of our entire neighborhood.'

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said officers responding to the home found evidence of shots being fired into the property, but no injuries were reported. Investigators believe it was an 'isolated, targeted incident', and the FBI has joined the case.

At the time of writing, no suspect had been publicly identified.

Gibson has said the violence will not alter his stance. 'I understand that public service can bring strong opinions and disagreement, but violence is never the answer, especially when it puts families at risk,' he said. 'This will not deter me.' That is the sort of sentence American politicians now seem forced to issue with grim regularity, as if armed intimidation has become just another form of constituent feedback.

Data centres may look like large, plain buildings filled with servers, cooling equipment, and power systems. But in reality, they have become a lightning rod for public anger in the AI era. For many communities, they now represent much bigger fears—from environmental damage and rising utility costs to growing distrust of Big Tech and the industries powering artificial intelligence.

Why Data Centres Are Drawing More Political Heat

Jordyn Abrams, a research fellow at George Washington University's Program on Extremism, said that data centres have increasingly become a target for extremists animated by anti-tech, anti-government, and pro-environment narratives. That does not mean every critic is an extremist. Far from it. But it does suggest the issue has become a vessel for wider grievance politics.

And some of the concerns are not fringe. Opponents of large-scale data centre developments have raised questions about electricity demand, water consumption, and whether confidential utility arrangements could leave ordinary ratepayers subsidising infrastructure built to serve private technology firms. Those concerns have surfaced in multiple states as AI demand accelerates and local communities are asked to absorb the physical footprint of the boom.

In Indianapolis, the Metrobloks proposal has become a local test case.

According to PBS, Gibson argued last week that the site had been underused for years and that the project represented an opportunity to bring it back into productive use for both the surrounding neighbourhood and the city. He also signalled that, when the proposal reaches the full council, he does not intend to block it.

There is still no public evidence tying any organised group to the attack, and investigators have not announced a motive beyond the obvious clue left behind.

If nothing else, the Indianapolis shooting is a blunt reminder that the politics of data centres is no longer a niche fight for zoning lawyers, utility analysts, and irritated neighbours. It now carries the kind of voltage that can draw a concerned gunman to a family home after midnight.