A former Arkansas state trooper resigned from his position on May 15 after his estranged wife filed court documents in their divorce case that included roughly 30 screenshots of text messages he allegedly sent her, messages filled with racial slurs, homophobic language, and what she described as white supremacist views.
Michael Austin Kennedy's departure from the Arkansas State Police came after Alana Delaney Kennedy submitted the texts as exhibits in Saline County court filings late last month, according to a report from PEOPLE, which reviewed the court documents. Local outlets KVUE, KATV, and 5News also reported on the resignation.
The case raises hard questions, not about free speech or marital disputes, but about whether a law enforcement officer who privately expressed contempt for the people he was sworn to serve was fit to wear the badge in the first place. And it raises equally hard questions about how long those messages existed before anyone in a position of authority acted.
What the court filings show
Alana Delaney Kennedy filed for divorce amid a custody battle over the couple's two young children. The Kennedys married in January 2014 and separated in February 2026, per the Saline County filings.
In her complaint, Alana Kennedy wrote that she is seeking sole custody because she is concerned her estranged husband "is a white supremacist and as such is going to poison the minds of the children with his views and actions." She also asked the court to require Michael Kennedy to complete a parenting course "in order to limit the hatred and prejudice that he has towards people."
PEOPLE reviewed the 30 screenshots attached to the filing. The messages allegedly sent by Michael Kennedy included racial slurs, a suggestion that the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote, should be repealed, and homophobic slurs.
Some of the text messages included photos Michael Kennedy allegedly took of himself posing with people he appeared to be arresting at the time. The New York Post reported that Alana Kennedy described these selfies as a "trophy", pictures of detained Hispanic individuals that she cited as an abuse of his position as a state trooper.
That detail stands out. If accurate, it means a sworn officer of the law was not just harboring bigoted views in private but was using his authority over detained individuals as material for boastful messages to his wife. That is not a thought crime. That is conduct unbecoming an officer, full stop.
Kennedy's response and resignation
On May 21, Michael Kennedy filed a response to the exhibits through his attorney. The filing did not dispute the authenticity of the messages. Instead, it offered an acknowledgment and an apology.
His lawyer's filing stated:
"[Michael] explicitly acknowledges, takes full responsibility for, and deeply regrets the highly offensive and unacceptable language used in the referenced past communications."
The filing continued:
"[Michael] makes no excuse for those statements; they were entirely improper, do not reflect [Michael's] values today, and [Michael] is profoundly ashamed of them."
Kennedy also claimed in his filing that the texts were "outdated" and came before he sought therapy and spiritual guidance. Whether that timeline holds up under scrutiny remains to be seen, the court filings do not specify exactly when each message was sent, and the couple did not separate until February 2026.
Local 5News reported that Kennedy officially resigned from his position as a state trooper on May 15, after the text messages were filed in the divorce proceedings. PEOPLE reached out to the Arkansas State Police for comment but did not receive a response as of Wednesday morning. No public statement from the department has been reported.
The silence from Arkansas State Police is notable. When a Minneapolis police chief was recently forced out over misconduct allegations, the department at least addressed the matter publicly. Here, the agency has said nothing, at least not yet.
A family dispute with public consequences
Alana Kennedy's filing did not stop at the text messages. She also alleged that Michael Kennedy and his father, ASP Deputy Director Lt. Col. Mike Kennedy, threatened to have her arrested for unveiling the messages in court. That claim has not been independently verified, and the elder Kennedy has not publicly responded.
But the allegation itself raises a serious concern. If a senior Arkansas State Police official, the deputy director, used his position or influence to threaten a civilian over lawful court filings, that would represent a far deeper institutional problem than one trooper's private bigotry.
Alana Kennedy's filing pulled no punches. She wrote that her estranged husband "blames [Alana] and everyone else for their reaction to his toxic behavior, but does not admit that the disrespect for people, his family, and his children was the trigger that made her react." She added: "This is an example that no one plays the victim better than the one who caused the damage."
She also stated that the couple's two young children currently fear their father, a claim Kennedy's legal team has not publicly addressed beyond the general acknowledgment and expression of regret.
The accountability gap in law enforcement
This case fits an uncomfortable pattern. Across the country, law enforcement agencies have faced a string of resignations and disciplinary actions tied to officer misconduct that went undetected, or unaddressed, for extended periods. Two Tampa police officers recently quit after a probe found serious on-duty misconduct, and the revelations only surfaced through an internal investigation that took time to develop.
The Kennedy case is different in one respect: the misconduct came to light not through an internal review or a whistleblower within the department, but through a private family dispute that spilled into public court records. That is not a system working. That is luck.
Were any disciplinary proceedings opened before Kennedy resigned? The available reporting does not say. Did the Arkansas State Police have any prior knowledge of Kennedy's views or conduct? No answer has been given. The department's refusal to comment leaves those questions hanging.
Conservatives who support law enforcement, and that includes the vast majority of this publication's readers, should be the first to demand that officers who disgrace the badge face consequences. The thin blue line means something only if the people behind it earn the public's trust. An officer who allegedly took selfies with detained individuals and sent them to his wife as bragging material did not earn that trust. He exploited it.
The broader pattern of police leaders facing misconduct charges in recent months makes the silence from Arkansas State Police all the more conspicuous. Departments that fail to address problems publicly invite the assumption that they tolerate them privately.
Open questions that demand answers
Several critical questions remain unanswered. First, how long did the Arkansas State Police employ Michael Austin Kennedy, and did any supervisor ever flag concerns about his conduct or attitudes? Second, will the department investigate whether Kennedy's alleged biases affected any arrests, traffic stops, or interactions with the public during his time as a trooper?
Third, and perhaps most pressing, what role, if any, did Lt. Col. Mike Kennedy play in his son's career trajectory within the same agency? The father-son dynamic within a state law enforcement organization, combined with the allegation that the elder Kennedy threatened Alana over the court filings, raises questions about whether institutional safeguards against nepotism and retaliation functioned properly.
When more than a dozen D.C. police officers were placed on leave over a widening internal probe, the department at least acknowledged the scope of the problem. Arkansas State Police owes the public the same transparency.
Fourth, what happens to the custody case? Alana Kennedy's request for sole custody rests in part on her claim that Michael Kennedy's views would harm their children. His legal team's strategy, acknowledging the messages while insisting they are "outdated", will face scrutiny from a family court judge who will have to weigh the evidence against both parents' fitness.
The real victims
At the center of this case are two young children caught between parents in a bitter divorce. Whatever a court ultimately decides about custody, those children will grow up knowing what their father wrote, and that it became a matter of public record.
Beyond the family, there are the unnamed individuals in those alleged selfie photos, people who were being detained by a state trooper and, if the filings are accurate, were photographed without their knowledge or consent as objects of mockery. They had no voice in this process. They may not even know the photos exist.
And there is the broader community of Arkansans who trusted that the officers patrolling their highways and responding to their emergencies held themselves to a standard worthy of the authority they carried. That trust is not unlimited. It has to be maintained, and when it is broken, the institution responsible has an obligation to say so plainly and explain what it intends to do about it.
Michael Austin Kennedy resigned. That is the bare minimum. The Arkansas State Police has yet to say a word. That is not enough.
