Texas councilman La’Shadion Shemwell (pictured) claims his arrest on Tuesday was racially motivated
A Texas councilman’s claim his arrest was racially motivated have been disputed after police released bodycam video of the altercation.
McKinney City Councilman La’Shadion Shemwell was arrested on Tuesday after refusing to sign a speeding citation.
In a news conference, he claimed the police were racially motivated in their decision to pull him over and arrest him.
But the bodycam video released by McKinney City police department showed the officers who pulled him over giving the councilman many chances to sign the citation.
As the officers plead with him to sign, Shemwell can be heard dropping the police chief’s name and appearing to threaten officers.
‘You better call chief Conley, you better call Chief Conley,’ he can be heard saying.
‘Officer you are making a really bad decision here… you’re in really big trouble my friend, really big trouble.
‘You better get Chief Conley on the phone and let him know what you’re doing.’
But body camera footage released by McKinney PD shows the councilman refusing to sign a speeding citation, name dropping the police chief and telling officers they’d be in ‘big trouble’
After Shemwell is carefully placed in the car, police are heard talking about the arrest.
Both officers are heard saying they have never had someone refuse to sign a citation before.
‘Everyone always signs the citation understanding it’s not an admission of guilt,’ one is heard saying.
In response to the release of the video, Shemwell took to Facebook Live and had his attorney release a one page statement.
Shemwell is arrested after refusing to sign the citation – which is not an admission of guilt – and his arresting officers are heard saying they’ve never had somebody refuse to sign
In response to the police footage, Shemwell released a statement through his attorney, maintaining the arrest was racially motivated
During the statement, Shemwell maintained the arrest was racially motivated and claimed he was ‘targeted’ because of his activism work.
‘I was pulled over, I was frustrated, I felt I was targeted and my rights were being violated. I know for sure I was not speeding,’ he said.
‘Forgive me for my agitation when I am pulled over in my own city for what I feel is an invalid reason.’
The councilman did say he ‘could have handled himself differently’, but says he will not resign over the incident.
Shemwell, who admits to being agitated, says he will not resign over the scandal