Supporters of an effort to recall a McKinney councilman are celebrating Friday, after they turned in what they believe to be enough signatures to push the election forward.

The movement to remove council member La'Shadion Shemwell, who was elected in 2017, also received the support of McKinney Mayor George Fuller. Shemwell and his supporters have said the recall is in retaliation for his comments about racism and police use of force.

Recall organizer Jolie Williams said they collected more than 3,000 signatures, well above the 2,100 threshold set by law.

“We’ve done our work,” Williams said. “We’re confident in our numbers.”

McKinney residents launched the recall after Shemwell proposed a proclamation calling North Texas a “Black State of Emergency” after a number of high-profile cases in which police officers fatally shot a black person. He urged people of color to not travel to the state after the shooting death of Atatiana Jefferson in Fort Worth.

“My comments are not an indictment of all officers,” Shemwell said at a Nov. 5 council meeting following the backlash to the proclamation.

Shemwell did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.

Shemwell is the second black person to have a seat on McKinney’s city council. He is the only black city council member on McKinney’s seven-member council.

Organizers have said the recall was not racially motivated.

"It's been an ongoing issue with Mr. Shemwell’s behavior and disregard for law enforcement, the charter and ethics policy, in which he voted in favor,” Williams said.

The mayor signed the petition and in a statement said he did so because Shemwell’s actions “have been very detrimental” to the community.

“Discussion concerning racism is critical to furthering racial equality, but lies and false narratives at the expense of our community’s well being, is simply not an acceptable means to initiate that discussion,” Fuller said in a statement.

Shemwell first ran for council after a white McKinney police officer pulled a gun on high schoolers at swim party in 2015. Viral video of the incident showed the officer sitting on a 15-year-old girl to restrain her, prompting a nationwide response. Shemwell was one of the first activists on the scene.

Since then, he has been in the center of controversy for his comments and his own interactions with law enforcement.

The petition mentioned incidents in which Shemwell was arrested while serving on the council as evidence he has violated the city charter. Police arrested him last year 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 he 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. Shemwell acknowledged he was argumentative with the officer during the stop.

Organizers hope the city secretary will validate their signatures in time to get the recall in front of City Council at its Jan. 7 meeting. Members must approve a resolution to schedule a recall election for May, organizers said.

A spokeswoman for the city did not return a request for comment.

Staff writer Cassandra Jaramillo contributed to this report.