Red state official faces threats over project backed by MAGA 'Shark Tank' star

A local county commissioner in Utah was irate after he and his family received threats following a vote to approve a data center project, according to a new report.

Lee Perry, a commissioner in Box Elder County, Utah, told local news station KSL5 that he began receiving threats after he voted to approve a 9-gigawatt data center located on a 40,000-acre parcel of land. The project is supported by Kevin O'Leary, a Canadian businessman and co-host of the hit show "Shark Tank." Perry added that police officers have been stationed outside of his home because of the threats he received.

"I literally have police officers in front of my house, and that's not fair to me, but it's especially not fair to my family, and it's not fair to either of the other two commissioners, either," Perry told the news outlet. "And I have county employees who are nervous about their safety as well. And that is not the American way, certainly not the way of people in Utah."

The vote took place at a time when data centers have become a contentious topic in many towns and cities across the U.S. Perry noted that O'Leary's effort to include the Utah Military Installation Development Authority made the matter even more contentious. Doing so required the county commissioners to approve the project. They wouldn't have had to approve the project if it were located on unzoned land in the county, Perry added.

O'Leary, for his part, claimed without evidence that the protest against the project came from outside Box Elder County.

"We think over 90 percent of the protestors are actually not people who live in Utah or Box Elder County. They're being bussed in," O'Leary told the outlet.