Wheeling's ‘Whodunit?’ Mudslinging mailers flood voter's mailboxes ahead of May 14 election
Wheeling Free Press is not accusing anyone of orchestrating the mailer campaign, but we have researched this issue intensely. Here's what we found.
Wheeling, W.Va. – On May 6, 2024, residents checked their mailboxes to find political mailers—lacking financial disclosures—attacking candidates, city administration, and political organizations. Another round of undisclosed mailers hit mailboxes on May 9, and more are expected to be sent out in the coming days.
This ‘October surprise’ has sent shockwaves through the city.
Several mailers have been submitted to Wheeling Free Press. Of most concern is an attack on incumbent Councilor Ben Seidler, Ward 2, who is running for re-election. In that mailer, Seidler is accused of committing domestic violence against his then partner.
Seidler denied the accusations levied against him. In a Facebook post, he says he has “never in [his] life physically harmed anyone.” Seidler went on to say he intended to “[file] a police report against this alleged illegal smear campaign and [initiate] legal action against those responsible.”
Seidler’s home address is listed on the mailer with two incident numbers—#2023-00020305 and #2023-00020004 appear on the mailer with information from 911 dispatch communications.
Wheeling Free Press obtained information from Theresa Russell, Ohio County 911 Director, stating that only one individual has ever requested information on those specific incident reports—a man named Anand Patel.
On October 9, 2023, Patel filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the CAD, or computer-assisted dispatch, reports associated with 32 incident reports, including incident reports #2023-00020305 and #2023-00020004. In a subsequent email to Wheeling Free Press, Russell said, “Mr [sic] Patel has been the only FOIA pertaining to that specific address [Seidler],” when asked to provide clarification.
Patel requested CAD reports for thirteen other locations in that request.
Wheeling Free Press contacted Patel for comment. Answering a question about his FOIA request being the only one on file for those specific incident numbers and CAD reports, Patel said “It was published on the firewpdchief site and in tiktok comments.”
What do we know about firewpdchief?
According to firewpdchief.com’s DNS report, the site was created on November 23, 2023. An associated YouTube page, ‘#FIREWPDCHIEF’, began posting videos around that same time. Ads promoting the YouTube page were shown on YouTube and TikTok; and, according to a YouTube ad disclosure, ‘Wheeling Inn’ is listed as the advertiser one of the ads appearing on that site.
According to the website’s DNS report, firewpdchief.com sat unedited since its creation until May 2, 2024.
Videos uploaded to the ‘#FIREWPDCHIEF’ YouTube page and to firewpdchief.com show video surveillance footage—appearing to be from the Wheeling Inn—of Wheeling Police Department law enforcement officers assisting several people onto the premises of Wheeling Inn. Using AI-generated voice overs, text, and video, the account accuses Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger of orchestrating a scheme to close the establishment by bringing problematic guests—including drug users, people under the influence, and homeless people—to the hotel.
(Video is a recovered ‘#FIREWPDCHIEF’ ad posted to a TikTok account.)
Wheeling Free Press recovered one of those now-deleted videos.
All of the videos, except for one, on ‘#FIREWPDCHIEF’ were made private when this reporter checked the YouTube page on May 6. Wheeling Free Press cannot confirm when the videos were made private; however, on May 6, one video remained public. By May 7, that video was taken down as were the other privates that were made private.
What do we know about the ‘Wheeling Inn' and its alleged association with firewpdchief.com?
City manager Robert Herron recommended that the Wheeling city council declare the ‘Wheeling Inn’ a public nuisance in April 2022. The next month, in May 2022, the council voted 5-1 to do just that. Vice Mayor Chad Thalman was the lone no-vote on the ordinance and Mayor Glenn Elliott recused himself due to his personal relationship with the hotel’s former operator, Patel.
Since that time, the property has remained closed. The Wheeling Convention and Visitors Bureau, a private organization in partnership with the state and local government, purchased the Wheeling Inn property from Nalini LLC, the company that owned the Wheeling Inn, in 2023 for $1.7 million. Patel is listed a “member” of Nalini LLC.
In a December 11, 2023, court filing in ‘State of West Virginia v. Ananad [sic] Patel’, Ohio County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Shawn Turak moved the Court for a gag order against Patel alleging, “the day before this matter was to go to trial, a video advertisement was released to the general public via social media website. The State believes this was done by the Defendant [Anand Patel] and will serve to prejudice the jury panel.”
Ultimately, that motion was denied.
In a subsequent email from Turak to Patel’s attorney and the Court, the State requested the jury panel be expanded to 20 individuals and that the voir dire—a questionnaire used during jury selection—include a question asking “Has any one [sic] seen on YouTube, TikTok or any other internet/social media platform any other advertisements run by the Defendant [Anand Patel] in which he calls for the removal of the Chief of Police?”
Wheeling Free Press asked Patel about the State’s motion for a gag order. Patel responded, saying “I had to admit in OPEN COURT [sic] that I was behind the site [firewpdchief.com]. gag [sic] order ultimately failed which eventually led to my charges being dismissed shortly there after [sic].”
Wheeling Free Press discovered through our investigation that ‘#FIREWPDCHIEF’ YouTube page and YouTube page ‘Common Sense Wheeling’, associated with the mailers, list a ‘Google Pixel 8 Pro’ as their chosen device for two-factor authentication.
What is ‘Common Sense Wheeling’?
At the time of publication, Wheeling Free Press has received copies of several mailers attacking mayoral candidates JT Thomas, Denny Magruder, and Rosemary Ketchum, as well as city manager Robert Herron and city council candidates Jerry Sklavounakis and Ben Seidler. A QR-code printed on some of the mailers link to the ‘Common Sense Wheeling’ YouTube page.
Many in Wheeling have shared their thoughts with Wheeling Free Press that ‘Common Sense Wheeling’ evoked memories of the YouTube page ‘#FIREWPDCHIEF’.
The first video uploaded to ‘Common Sense Wheeling’ on May 1, 2024, targeted city manager Herron related to a 2019 incident where Mr. Herron was arrested for driving under the influence.
Videos on ‘Common Sense Wheeling’ feature AI-generated voice overs, text, and videos and target the city manager, as well as local candidates running in the May 14 election. One of the videos appear to endorse Beth Hinebaugh, candidate for mayor.
Two of the mailers, and one of the ‘Common Sense Wheeling’ videos, target Councilor Rosemary Ketchum, candidate for mayor. In these ads, Ketchum is accused of aligning with political group ‘WV Can’t Wait’— a group the mailers label an extremist organization. The video ad and mailers also accuse Ketchum of recruiting Zach Shrewsbury, candidate for U.S. Senate, and call Shrewsbury a “Seattle Socialist.”
One mailer reads “Understanding the Extremist Influence of WV Can’t Wait” and claims Ketchum “brought Seattle Socialist Zach Shrewsbury to the forefront.” A second mailer featuring a distorted picture of Ketchum’s face calls on voters to reject the “radical WV Can’t Wait” and twice calls Shrewsbury a “Seattle Socialist.”
In a now-deleted Facebook post from April 25, 2024, Patel uses similar language criticizing ‘WV Can’t Wait’ and calling Shrewsbury a “Seattle Socialist.” Wheeling Free Press attempted to find other social media posts using “Seattle Socialist” to describe Shrewsbury, but we were only able to find one from an anonymous Twitter account (@WestVirginiaJoe).
In another mailer targeting Ketchum, several social media posts, including one from this reporter, are used to target ‘WV Can’t Wait’ as extremist. Of the six social media posts shared on the mailer, three contain comments with the identity of the author blurred out. This reporter’s name and another citizen’s name is not blurred.
At least one of those blurred comments was authored by Patel on his personal Facebook account.
These mailers list their return address as P.O. Box 6560. A man associated with this box spoke to The Intelligencer under the condition of anonymity. The man told reporter Eric Ayers that the use of his box “appalls” him, and that his “family is upset about this.”
P.O. Box 6563—which neighbors P.O. Box 6560—is associated with Patel; however, it’s important to note that this is likely a coincidence.
Wheeling Free Press reached out to Patel for comment on this story. Patel said he has “faced allegations and charges that I [Patel] vehemently deny” related to his “involvement in illegal activities in a hotel basement.” Patel says he is seeking legal action against the city based on those allegations, and is planning to “pursue legal recourse against anyone who levies unverified claims against me.”
Patel asked Wheeling Free Press to include his allegations that this reporter called him at 3:15 a.m. and subsequently added him on Facebook. He says those alleged actions are “alarming” and can “only be described as manic and highly unprofessional.” “This aspect of the story demands scrutiny and should not be ignored in your coverage,” Patel said. Wheeling Free Press does not confirm nor deny this activity; however, we stand by all investigative, legal, practices used in the making of this story
Wheeling Free Press is not accusing any individual of being behind the mailers—we simply do not have that proof; however, through our investigation, we have found information voters in the May 14 election may want to consider.
Wheeling Free Press denounces in the strongest possible terms the illegal, nasty mailer campaign that has plagued the city’s clean, issues-based race in the eleventh hour before the election.
Ultimately, the West Virginia Secretary of State's office, or the West Virginia Ethics Commission, will be able to positively identify the culprit. These agencies have been made aware of the dubious mailer campaign. The timeline to a conclusion could be expedited through a Court subpoena of the union printer in Tampa Bay, Fla., who printed the mailers.
Whoever is behind this mudslinging campaign could face fines of $1,000, a year in prison, or both. Per W.Va. Code §3-8-12, no person may “publish, issue, or circulate, or cause to be published, issued, or circulated, any anonymous letter, circular, placard, radio or television advertisement, or other publication supporting or aiding the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate.”
The perpetrator may also face charges stemming from the alleged misconduct related to the use of a P.O. Box for their mailer campaign.
Kyle Vass of Huntington, W.Va., assisted in research for this story. At least twenty individuals also contributed to this story, but chose to remain anonymous.
A follow-up to this story can be found below.
