Wife goes scorched earth on cop husband with divorce filings so scandalous he has now lost his job, as family's perfect life is shattered

By NIC WHITE, US SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER Published: 01:36, 24 May 2026 | Updated: 01:48, 24 May 2026 A bitter custody battle between a cop and his wife turned so nasty that he was forced to resign after she dumped dozens of scandalous texts into divorce documents.  Alana Kennedy and her estranged Arkansas State Police trooper husband Michael Austin Kennedy traded outlandish accusations in dueling filings over the past month. Each included reams of texts aimed at painting the other as the worst possible partner and parent in a scorched earth race to the bottom. Austin, 32, accused his former flame of trying to deny him custody of their two children, Aaron and Alivia, and gain huge child support to maintain a 'lavish lifestyle.' His school counselor wife, 33, in turn branded him a 'white supremacist' she feared would 'poison the minds' of their children with his bigotry. Dozens of texts where Austin used slurs to demean Latinos and Black, Indian, Muslim and LGBTQ people were included in her May 13 filing to back up her claim. Others had photos of arrested minority suspects, including a photo of three troopers posing with a handcuffed man, captioned 'this is the better trophy pic'.  He described the man arrested as a 'spic', a racist term used to describe a Hispanic person that would appear frequently in texts he sent to his estranged wife.   Arkansas State Police trooper Austin Kennedy and his wife Alana (right) with Austin's parents Mike and Janai Kennedy and their son Aaron. Alana and Austin exchanged nasty court filings in their divorce case Some of the message had photos of arrested minority suspects, including a photo of three troopers posing with a handcuffed man, captioned 'this is the better trophy pic' Austin resigned just two days later amid an internal affairs investigation and public shaming by local media, which he claimed was all part of Alana's plan. Texts included in Austin's May 7 motion for contempt showed Alana warning him that embarrassing correspondence could come to light if he didn't give up custody. She demanded to have the children full time with him only allowed visitation every second weekend and insisted he would have to pay child support. 'But know that I am fully prepared to share whatever screenshots I have and I do not care if they end up on courtconnect for all the world to see if you don't agree to my terms,' she wrote in one message. Alana also indicated on May 5 that discovery for the case could reveal his alleged history of drug use. 'Would probably not be great for you if ASP found out you lied about that in your application,' she wrote. The next day she asked if he'd had 'a chance to think about whether you want your history of drug use coming out in court?' Other messages mocked Austin for having a 'budget attorney' who got the county she lived in wrong and repeatedly asking who paid his legal fees. 'Your (sic) too embarrassed to admit your mommy and daddy paid it for you,' an April 17 message taunted. Alana (far right) branded Austin a 'white supremacist' she feared would 'poison the minds' of their children with his bigotry and accused Mike (far left) of helping Austin harass her Texts included in Austin's May 7 motion for contempt showed Alana warning him that embarrassing correspondence could come to light if he didn't give up custody Austin accused his former flame of trying to deny him custody of their two children, Aaron and Alivia, and gain huge child support to maintain a 'lavish lifestyle' The couple's former marital home in Bauxite, Arkansas, before Austin moved out in January Alana responded to his efforts to hold her in contempt of court with dozens of messages between them where he berated her about child support. Austin in the texts called the payments she was demanding 'court-ordered extortion and theft' and called her a 'despicable and disgusting human being.'    'Whatever "child support" that would be stolen from me, would 100% go to DoorDash, Gym Shark sweatsuits, Amazon, 8 streaming services, new clothes for mom every week, and whatever other crap,' he wrote in one message. 'And I can't do that when you'll have your income, the income of the guy you're leaving me for, [and] your dad helping you.' He continued in another: 'Why can't I just support my children? I knew it. Mommy is about to live a lavish lifestyle. Funded by 3 different men. 'I have to have my paycheck stolen from me at gunpoint and given to you, not the kids.' Austin claimed Alana will follow the example of her mother, who allegedly used her father's child support to buy alcohol instead of spending it on her children.  'Just replace alcohol with online shopping,' he wrote. Alana demanded to have the children full time with Austin only allowed visitation every second weekend, and insisted he would have to pay child support Other messages mocked Austin for having a 'budget attorney' who got the county she lived in wrong Alana responded to his efforts to hold her in contempt of court with dozens of messages between them where he berated her about child support He claimed she was trying to get full custody of their children so she could demand more child support, which he called 'pure, Satanic evil'. To thwart he, he claimed he would quit his job and 'go make difference in the world and go cook at Blue House' to greatly reduce his income. 'No one will have sympathy for you when you're already sneaking men into my house,' he added in another text. Another text appeared to be responding to Alana claiming that Austin threatened to kill her. 'I have never threatened to kill you. I have threatened to kill Ethan Simpson,' he wrote. 'Because there is no justice in this world where innocent people die all the time and that motherf**ker gets to live with no consequences.' Which Ethan Simpson he was referring to and why he threatened to kill him, was unclear. Austin accused his estranged wife of sneaking men into the marital home after he moved out He continued in another: 'Why can't I just support my children? I knew it. Mommy is about to live a lavish lifestyle. Funded by 3 different men' He claimed she was trying to get full custody of their children so she could demand more child support, which he called 'pure, Satanic evil' Both the answer to the contempt motion and Alana's May 13 amended complaint included shockingly racist messages Austin sent her during their marriage.  One mockingly explained the Latino worker at 'Spic-Fil-A' messed up his order and, using exaggerated broken English, claimed the worker would get drunk and kill a family in a car crash. He claimed he noticed the fast food outlet got worse as more 'brown people' worked there and 'third world employees' don't produce the same results as those of 'European decent (sic)'. Another time, he shared a Daily Wire article about an off-duty cop being killed by a wrong-way driver who was due to be deported. 'White father of 3 killed right before Christmas by yet another wrong way driving drunk illegal spic. You don't hate them enough,' he added. Austin used the same racial epithets to complain about Latinos in several other text exchanges. 'The s**t that clogged up Aaron's toilet is worth more to me than any of them,' he wrote in one. Austin vented about the 'n****r criminal family' of the man Daniel Penny killed on the NYC subway reacting to the not guilty verdict, saying: 'none of those n****rs deserve to live in a country where we raise our children'. 'They are so f**king evil and disgusting.'  Austin vented about the 'n****r criminal family' of the man Daniel Penny killed on the NYC subway reacting to the not guilty verdict Another time he shared a Daily Wire article about off-duty cop being killed by a wrong-way driver who was due to be deported Austin teed off on on Hispanic people again after one was arrested in another incident Another time, Austin complained he would be late home because 'n****rs were n****ring in Little Rock', referred to black people as 'subhuman trash' and 'sub primate' and black neighborhoods as 'N****rland.' He also called Indian people 'street s**tters' and called for Ramadan to be banned. 'A dirty turkey sand n****r attack in New Orleans. I love brown people and brown cultures. They're so lovely and diverse and I want my kids around more of them,' he sarcastically wrote about the New Year's Eve 2025 terrorist attack. Austin also called local justice of the peace candidate Bailey Morgan, who is heterosexual but supportive of LGBTQ rights - a 'f**king queer'. After being forced to quit his job, Austin raged in a May 19 filing that Alana only released the messages publicly to humiliate him and asked for all future documents to be sealed from public view. 'She followed through with her threats and attached the text messages that she had been threatening to publicly release,' he wrote. Just a day later, Alana's lawyers told the court in a response to the motion that Austin had no one to blame but himself. 'The defendant is aware that the plaintiff and one of the children were all in therapy as a result of his behavior, and he has always blamed everyone else,' they wrote. Another time, Austin complained he would be late home because 'n****rs were n****ring in Little Rock' Some of Austin's texts to his wife included photos of arrested minority suspects Austin writing sarcastically about the New Year's Eve 2025 terrorist attack Austin called Indian people 'street s**tters' and called for Ramadan to be banned 'Since the motions were filed last week, the defendant continues to berate, harass and blame the plaintiff for his own behavior. 'Blaming others is exactly how the Defendant has been throughout the marriage.  'The text messages showing his bigotry and hatred toward humankind are perfect examples of how he treated his family because he feels he is supreme, and only his beliefs are correct.' Austin since claims to have had a Damascene conversion and disavowed his racist and homophobic past, insisting that Christianity has changed him as a person.   'That is old, terrible stuff. I am not that person,' he wrote in response to his wife exposing his offensive language. 'I am a Christian now... I repented before God. Months ago. And here you are, destroying new me because of old me. Pure, raw evil.' He wrote in another: 'Destroy my life, the kids lives, for your own personal gain. 'You're terrorizing me and making my life unlivable... Quit harassing me during church.' Austin characterized her actions as: 'I'm going to dump a ton of debt on you by lying and deceiving and then I'm taking your income from you.' Alana's lawyers told the court in a response to the motion that Austin had no one to blame but himself, sharing texts he sent her after she exposed his racist messages Austin since claims to have had a Damascene conversion and disavowed his racist and homophobic past, insisting that Christianity had changed him as a person Austin characterized her actions as: 'I'm going to dump a ton of debt on you by lying and deceiving and then I'm taking your income from you' 'Your (sic) too embarrassed to admit your mommy and daddy paid it for you,' an April 17 message taunted Alana also claimed Austin and his father, state police Lieutenant Colonel Mike Kennedy, threatened to have her arrested for 'stealing' money from the couple's joint account. She claimed the expenditure was to buy a mattress for the children and to pay utility bills Austin neglected. 'You are trying so hard to get me put in jail with one of the many women you cheated on me with and asking for sole custody for the sole purpose of tormenting me,' Alana wrote. 'You're still awful. You haven't changed at all.' Austin responded with a brief filing again disavowing the racist messages that his lawyer, Matthew Ingle, wrote 'date back several months'. 'The defendant makes no excuse for those statements; they were entirely improper, do not reflect the defendant's values today and the defendant is profoundly ashamed of them,' the filing read. Austin claimed his estranged wife 'sat on these messages' until she could use them against him. 'Plaintiff had no problem with these messages until she decided that they would benefit her position in this legal proceeding,' the filing read. However, the screenshots show Alana on several occasions objected to what he was saying, including telling him he was 'being hateful.' The case continues with the next move up to Alana. 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