The former mayor of a small Texas town who was ousted by the City Council is now being sued by a former council member who accuses him of abusing his position to silence her.
Jennifer Thompson, the former council member, previously told The Dallas Morning News she believed then-Mayor Acy McGehee worked with police to arrest her shortly before a Feb. 7 city council meeting, following her months-long attempts to get answers to questions about the city’s finances and hiring practices.
Godley, in Johnson County about 25 miles southwest of Fort Worth, has a population of about 1,680, according to 2021 U.S. Census estimates. Since November, the city’s police chief, city administrator and city secretary have resigned. Earlier this month, McGehee resigned after a vote of no confidence by the City Council. David Williams, another council member, submitted his resignation last week.
Thompson filed a lawsuit Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas claiming that McGehee, the city and multiple members of the city’s law enforcement, including its interim police chief, conspired to violate her constitutional rights.
Acy McGehee told The Dallas Morning News he was aware of the lawsuit but had not read through it late Thursday afternoon. He denied abusing his office to silence Thompson and said he “had no knowledge” of the crime she was accused of until after she was taken into custody.
“I was notified by the police that they were going to arrest her. It was City Council meeting night and I asked them not to arrest her at City Hall, to arrest her at her house,” McGehee said. “But she didn’t go to her house, she came directly to City Hall from wherever she was, so they had to arrest her there.”
The city of Godley did not immediately respond to a request for an interview.
Thompson is seeking unspecified damages, claiming she suffered financially, emotionally, physically and reputationally as a result of the actions of city officials and McGehee.
“Defendants knowingly and/or with reckless disregard to Plaintiff’s federal rights used their governmental power as policymakers and under the color of state law to arrest Plaintiff, strip-search her, and confine her in jail on the pretense of a crime that Plaintiff did not commit and of which Defendants have no valid evidence,” the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit accuses a Godley police officer of illegally obtaining an arrest warrant that accused Thompson of tampering with a governmental record. The affidavit supporting the warrant contained false information and “relied solely on the unsubstantiated and incorrect statements” from McGehee, the lawsuit says.
Two other officers, also named as defendants in the lawsuit, “falsely arrested” Thompson and “detained her in a police car for several minutes in front of her fellow councilmembers and constituents with malice to embarrass and humiliate her,” Thompson’s lawyers allege.
Her absence from the meeting allowed McGehee to be the deciding vote on multiple items before the City Council that Thompson was against, including those related to hiring choices for the interim city attorney and interim city secretary, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit claims Thompson was falsely arrested, a victim of malicious prosecution, retaliated against for exercising her First Amendment rights, and conspired against. It also says city officials failed to intervene in the violation of Thompson’s constitutional rights.
A “blue folder” that Godley City Council members received in November is at the center of the events that led to Thompson’s arrest, according to the lawsuit. The folder, which was compiled by the city’s former police chief, contained information “suggesting that city officials, including long-time City Administrator David Wallis, and other department heads and city staff” were not following the city’s rules, the lawsuit says.
Thompson started requesting public information from city officials, including data on the value and location of city property. In December, Thompson raised issues related to multiple policies and procedures “that failed to ensure transparency and accountability to the public,” according to the lawsuit.
Ana Jordan, Thompson’s attorney, said her client believes McGehee and the police were trying to “scare her” from looking for answers.
“She’s determined to see this through,” Jordan said of the lawsuit.
