McKinney voters to decide whether to recall council member La’Shadion Shemwell

After nearly a year of uncertainty about his future on the McKinney City Council, La’Shadion Shemwell will learn this week whether or not he will continue to represent District 1.

An effort launched in November 2019 gathered enough signatures to put a resolution to recall Shemwell on the ballot Tuesday.

He was elected in June 2017, winning a runoff to become the second-ever Black member of the McKinney City Council. His campaign started not long after McKinney attracted national attention from a viral video of a Black teenager at a pool party being slammed to the ground by a police officer.

Shemwell vowed to advocate for the eastern side of McKinney and has been vocal about protecting civil rights in the city and beyond, frequently speaking at demonstrations and protests around Dallas-Fort Worth.

But he also has often clashed with McKinney Mayor George Fuller and other council members over racial issues and other topics.

His attempt to get the council to pass a “Black State of Emergency” after a police officer shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson in her Fort Worth home sparked the recall effort, with petition organizers acquiring nearly 1,000 more signatures than the 2,127 needed.

“I’m going to fight with every breath in my body, and I’m going to see you in court,” Shemwell said in January. True to his word, he filed a federal lawsuit against the city in March. He withdrew the lawsuit after COVID-19 delayed the May election but refiled it in September.

The council member’s personal life also has entered the public eye during his term. Shemwell was arrested in December 2018 on a family violence charge, though a grand jury declined to indict him. He also was arrested that year after refusing to sign a traffic citation. He alleged that he was racially profiled but later voted to censure himself after viewing the body cam footage, which he said made him realize he had been argumentative.