City Attorney Jeff Turnage says Facebook comments made by a councilman’s wife are a private matter, not a city one, in response to a citizen’s request for the city to formally admonish what she calls threats of physical violence made against her by Avisha Shelton-Smith, wife of Ward 2 Councilman Roderick Smith.

Turnage’s response comes after Substack blog writer Shannon Evans emailed a letter Friday to him, Mayor Stephen Jones and all six members of the city council, in which she outlines Shelton-Smith’s comments and her own demands for how the city should address them.

“When the family member of a sitting council member – particularly one who regularly speaks on behalf of the council member – threatens physical violence against constituents for exercising First Amendment Rights, it compromises public safety, chills public participation and exposes the city and council to significant legal and ethical liability,” wrote Evans, who has since filed a police report against Shelton-Smith. “No citizen should fear physical harm or retaliation for engaging in municipal politics or questioning the integrity of city officials.”

In the letter, Evans demanded the city enter the complaint and Avisha Shelton-Smith’s comments into internal records, review the matter to determine whether Councilman Smith breached any municipal or ethics guidelines and formally admonish the comments. She also demanded all communications on the matter be preserved.

In a response email sent Friday, Turnage told Evans the matter would best be resolved by “the appropriate law-enforcement agency,” noting Shelton-Smith is not “an employee, officer, or agent of the City of Columbus.”

“The fact that the individual is the spouse of a member of the City Council does not, standing alone, make her actions attributable to the City or establish that she acts on behalf of the City or the Council member,” Turnage wrote.

“… To the extent you believe that statements made by a private individual constitute a threat of physical violence or otherwise violate criminal law, referral of that matter to the appropriate law-enforcement agency is the appropriate course,” Turnage added later. “… The City takes no position through this response concerning any criminal or other individual liability arising from the alleged statements.”

Online discourse

The alleged threats were spurred by a Friday Substack post written by Evans, in which she criticized Councilman Smith’s tenure in office, re-raised unsubstantiated claims from the 2025 election regarding Smith’s residency in Ward 2 and took issue with his Sept. 15 tirade over the city’s policy for complimentary usage of Trotter Convention Center.

In another post, Evans questioned how involved the councilman’s wife was in his decisions on city matters.

Along with a photo of a cow posted to Facebook on Thursday, Evans wrote, “Inquiring minds want to know…did Roderick Smith give his seat on the city council over to his wife? She speaks up so often on his council business I am wondering if I missed something. I hear she lives in Rusty Greene’s district…maybe she wants to run for that seat?”

In response to the Substack and Facebook posts, Shelton-Smith, in her own Facebook post, publicly took issue with both.

“Shannon Evans, I speak on whatever I choose to speak on, just like you clearly do,” Shelton-Smith wrote. “My husband was elected to his seat, and I don’t have to hold his seat to have an opinion about matters concerning my husband or this city. … You’re entitled to your opinions, but when you start mixing those opinions with assumptions and misinformation about me, I am entitled to correct you.”

However, Shelton-Smith did not end her response there and, in subsequent comments under the post, retorted with several comments that Evans interpreted as threats of physical violence.

“If she catches me on a rough day, she won’t have to worry about nobody else business yeah I may be on the mugshot website,” Shelton-Smith wrote in a comment. “But she’ll know exactly who not to play with on any day ending in D A Y she better ask about me cause … she gone feel all of these licks.”

Shelton-Smith said while she believed her responses were inappropriate and made hastily, none of the comments constituted a threat of physical harm against Evans.

Evans told The Dispatch that since Turnage’s reply, she has filed a police report with Columbus Police Department, including charges of simple assault, cyberstalking, harassment and disturbing the peace against Shelton-Smith.

Evans said she is not sure when a judge will hear those charges, but she hopes that her response will deter future threats from spouses of city officials.

“My hope is that she doesn’t do this to anybody else and understands that she does not … get to chill people’s First Amendment speech who are critical of her husband as an elected official,” Evans said. “… Political speech is protected speech, even if it’s unsavory, rhetorical, or comical; it’s like the backbone of our country.”

Councilman Smith declined to comment on the situation when reached by The Dispatch on Monday.