McKinney City Council member La’Shadion Shemwell faces recall petition effort

McKinney residents are leading an effort to recall City Council member La’Shadion Shemwell, saying he has not upheld his oath of office and has made inflammatory comments.

The city received a group’s recall petition in November, and its members have until early January to get 2,127 registered McKinney voters’ signatures to potentially decide on a recall in May, according to KXAS-TV (NBC5).

Shemwell, elected in 2017, is the second black person ever on McKinney’s council.

He has been at the center of controversies during his time in office, but he said he has faced backlash for speaking out on issues, including race. On Saturday, he called the effort to remove him an example of voter suppression.

“This is white supremacy in the form of good ol’ boys: ‘Do what we do, or else,’” he said.

Most recently, he was criticized in October when he called for a “Black State of Emergency” in Texas and urged minorities not to travel to the state after the fatal shooting of Atatiana Jefferson and other police shootings.

He alleged the state and “its local governments have declared war on black and brown citizens by conspiring to kill, injure, oppress, threaten and intimidate, and to willfully deprive citizens of their constitutional rights while acting under color of law,” WFAA-TV (Channel 8) reported.

The group seeking to remove him said those comments violated the city’s ethics code.

“This false narrative violated the trust and support of the residents of McKinney,” the group said in its affidavit, arguing that Shemwell’s comments could hinder the city’s economic development.

Shemwell said the campaign to remove him began long before his “Black State of Emergency” comments,

He blamed Mayor George Fuller and people around him for the recall petition.

“Since I’ve been elected, it’s been a destroy campaign. It’s a discredit campaign. It’s trying to make me seem less reliable,” Shemwell said. “They’re trying to diminish who I am and the things that I’ve done in this community.”

Fuller said Friday that the city has been the “biggest loser” through the controversies involving Shemwell. He said the Police Department and local government have been the subject of numerous misstatements.

“There’s been so many false allegations,” Fuller said. “And once they’re proven false, you’re not going to find any big media splash to recount or to take it back, to apologize. You won’t find any of that. But what you will find is incident after incident of allegations only to be proven false, and then move on to the next allegation.”

The petition points to incidents in which Shemwell was arrested while serving on the council as evidence he has violated the city charter.

Police arrested him last year on a family-violence charge after he was accused of assaulting a woman. A Collin County grand jury decided in June not to indict him.

In 2018, he accused a McKinney officer of racial profiling after he was pulled over for speeding. The officer arrested Shemwell after the council member refused to sign a citation, according to a police statement.

Shemwell later voted to censure himself for accusing the officer of racial profiling after body camera footage of the incident was released and Shemwell acknowledged he was argumentative with the officer during the stop.

Jolie Williams, a McKinney resident who is helping collect signatures for the petition, called Shemwell’s behavior on the council alarming.

“We care about our community, and when the continued dishonest actions of a single councilman repeatedly threaten the well-being of our community, it’s not acceptable,” Williams said.

Shemwell maintains he has represented his district well. He will consult with his attorneys on his legal options but said he is content with the process of the petition. His fate is in the hands of the community that elected him, he said.

“I can’t keep this seat alone. I didn’t get here alone. I wasn’t elected alone,” he said. “So if the community wants me in, the community will stand up. If the community allows this to take place and allows their vote to be taken, then that’s on the community. And I’m OK.”