MCKINNEY (WBAP/KLIF)- McKinney City Councilman La’Shadion Shemwell is suing the city in an attempt to keep his job as a council member.
The McKinney City Council voted Tuesday night to move forward with the recall election, however Shemwell claims he’s being discriminated against. Shemwell said he is filing a federal lawsuit because he believes it’s unconstitutional to have a city-wide vote on the ballot. Shemwell believes only the district he serves, which is predominately minorities, should be allowed to vote on this issue. “If district 1 were voting, my district would vote me in and they know that, no one would be able to beat me in my district because I do the work and represent the district well,” said Shemwell.
Shemwell has accused McKinney Police and others of racial profiling and was arrested while in office. He also declared a “black state of emergency” following several officer-involved shootings in North Texas. His controversial actions led to over 3,000 McKinney residents to sign a petition to get a city-wide recall vote on the May ballot.
“I do feel like there is an unfairness to it and discrimination in the whole process…just because someone has a difference of opinion doesn’t give you the right to remove them from a position,” he said.
An injunction hearing is set for February 4th.
