Exhaustive details of the incident that led to Payan's arrest, including his identity, his refusal to identify himself, and his plans to take legal action against the city.
A public meeting about a planned data center between Amazon and NIPSCO resulted in one man getting kicked out and later arrested. Pablo Payan is from Merrillville, Ind.
, and refused to give his name and address when speaking to members of the city's plan commission. Members of that commission, along with the city's legal department, refused to allow him to speak because he refused to identify himself. Fox Chicago reached out to the City of Hobart to get their side of the story.
While Indiana state law does not specifically require a person to identify themselves when addressing a public body, it does say that municipalities "may adopt reasonable rules to govern the taking of oral public comment.
"David Westland, who is part of the legal department for the city, said the city posted these rules prior to the meeting, and read them out loud prior to public comment. Westland said this rule is in place for accurate record keeping purposes and legal reasons, in case there's a lawsuit against the city. Fox Chicago obtained video of what happened as the man was being escorted out of the building by Hobart Police officers.
Payan can be heard asking officers if he's being arrested or being detained, but the officers kept saying, "You're leaving.
" This is happening as Payan is walking with officers in the hallway. As Payan continues to ask officers questions, an officer is seen pushing him over a railing and handcuffing him. In a press release, the city said in part:"We received inquiries regarding the Hobart Police Department’s involvement in removing individuals from the Plan Commission Meeting held on May 7, 2026, at the Police Court Complex, 705 E. 4th Street, Hobart, Indiana.
Prior to the meeting, the Plan Commission advised attendees of the Public Hearing Rules. These rules were also posted before entering the venue. Individuals wishing to speak during the public hearing were instructed to state their name, address, and phone number for the public hearing record. A 42-year-old male from Merrillville, Indiana, was asked to leave after refusing to identify himself for the public hearing record.
The commission attorney advised the individual multiple times that he would need to identify himself in order to speak. The individual continued speaking into the microphone, causing a disruption to the proceedings. The commission attorney then advised officers that the individual would need to be escorted from the building. Officers instructed the individual to leave; however, he refused and continued arguing with the commission attorney.
Officers then escorted him out by guiding him by the shoulder. In the hallway between the courtroom and the venue exit, the individual stated he was not leaving and was subsequently placed under arrest for Criminal Trespass and Disorderly Conduct.
"However, in the video, Payan is not heard saying he refuses to leave. Payan denies that he was being disruptive and denied that he refused to leave. Payan said he was asking the officers questions about why he's being kicked out and if he's being arrested.
"In my opinion, I was kicked out to prove a point that the law is on their side and if people continue to try and express themselves and speak, they will also be intimidated or arrested by law enforcement," said Payan. "So I think it was a flex of power. "The city of Hobart also acknowledged a second person was kicked out of a later meeting.
Fox Chicago confirmed the second person was Angelita Soriano, who we've interviewed before about this data center project. The statement from the city said Soriano, "exceeded her allotted speaking time. After being advised that her time had expired, she continued speaking and began yelling loudly, causing a disruption to the public hearing. She was escorted from the venue but was not criminally charged, as she ultimately left voluntarily.
"Soriano told us she felt there was selective enforcement of the rules. When it came to the allotted two minutes speakers were allowed, she pointed out that a representative from NIPSCO was allowed to speak for more than two minutes and was not interrupted. Fox Chicago reached out to Hobart Police as well as Hobart Mayor Josh Huddlestun for comment. We also asked them if they plan on following through with the pending charges against Payan.
We're still waiting to hear back. Meanwhile, Payan told us he plans on taking legal action against the city.
Arrest Disorderly Conduct Criminal Trespass Public Hearing Rules Flex Of Power Selective Enforcement Pending Charges Legal Action Incident Data Center
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