NOBLESVILLE, Ind. — There was a lot of finger pointing over some political text messages in Hamilton County Thursday when some voters reported getting a controversial invitation to a pro-Palestine rally.
The issue: The message first looked like it was from Indiana Democrats, but later appeared to come from county Republicans.
Some of the voters who received the messages were disturbed the war in Israel was being used to stoke local political division.
“What happened was deceptive, hurtful and entirely counterproductive to use this war as a means for political divisiveness,” said Melissa Cohen.
Cohen serves as a cantor at Congregation Beth-El Zedeck. She and another voter worry the Jewish community may have been targeted specifically. They’re upset someone, possibly a political party, may have used the horrible war in Israel to sow local political division.
"I think what would be reassuring to me as a resident and as a voter is for both parties to commit to saying 'we’re going to get to the bottom of this,'” Jon Shapiro said.
Shapiro would like to see a nonpartisan agency look at where the messages came from. 13 Investigates reached out to both the Indiana Attorney General's Office and the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana but have not received a response.
13News also reached out to Indiana State Police. A spokesman was not aware of an investigation into the messages.
13 Investigates spoke to three different voters who sent us screenshots showing the original invite.
The original message appears to have come from a voter who asked to remain anonymous. 13 Investigates verified the person’s name. They also shared a screenshot of the message they received Thursday evening at 4:19 p.m. inviting them to a “FREE PALESTINE RALLY at 5:30PM at Monument Circle in Indianapolis.” The message was reportedly from the "Progressive Democrats of Indiana."
The Indiana Democrats say that group does not exist.
The voter responded "STOP" to the message and reports getting a response from what appeared to be the Hamilton County Republican Party.
The response message stated, “Hamilton Republican GOP: you are now opted-out and will receive no further messages.”
The voter said they did not intend or want to start any political controversy.
Hours after speaking to that first voter, 13 Investigates met the two other voters who agreed to come forward publicly. Shapiro reports he got the same initial message at 3:51 p.m. and received the same automatic reply as the anonymous voter.
"Initially I thought nothing of it,” Shapiro said. “But then certainly found it to be pretty mystifying a little bit later… it's troubling. I mean the entire thing is troubling regardless of who's responsible.”
Cohen shared a screenshot showing she received the initial message Thursday at 3:49 p.m. She reports her husband, Dr. Marc Cohen, also received it, but the couple say they did not receive the auto reply.
“What concerns me the most is that it begins with “Progressive Democrats” but then later says "as Democrats” which is misleading and not representative of our party,” Cohen said via text message.
Thursday night, the Hamilton County Republican Party posted a one-sentence statement on "X" saying it had "absolutely nothing to do with" the text campaign. The statement was unsigned.
By Friday morning, a picture of state paperwork for the Hamilton County Republican GOP was circulating online. That name was on the form titled “Regular Party Committee Statement of Organization” – Form CFA-3. The date stamp on the images indicated it was filed on February 2, 2022.
When 13 Investigates went to the county’s website to review the form, it could not be found. Elections administrator Beth Sheller said that form had been posted online in the campaign finance section of the county’s website, but it has been recently removed because it was posted in error.
Sheller said that the paperwork with the name Hamilton County Republican GOP was originally dropped off in February 2022 but the same day, the person who dropped it off returned and corrected the name of the organization. The new name, “Hamilton County Republican Central Committee” is handwritten on what appears to be the same form.
Friday morning, Indiana Democrats called the messages a "fake texting campaign" and sent a statement saying the GOP's denial was "laughable."
Mike Schmuhl is Indiana's Democratic Party Chair.
“We haven't independently confirmed but we are definitely looking into it right now,” Schmuhl said. “And just on its face, Cierra, this is just reprehensible, this is disgusting. I mean, this is what people really, really dislike about our politics and our political discourse today."
13 Investigates reached out to the Hamilton County Republican Party Chairman Mario Massillamany for an on-camera interview. Our request was declined, but he did answer some questions over the phone, including if the party sent the messages. He said, “No.”
Shortly after the phone call, Massillamany sent 13 Investigates an updated statement again denying involvement with the texts, stating, "We have no reason to impersonate anyone. We didn't send it, we didn't pay for it and we don't know who did."
Massillamany told 13 Investigates over the phone his party is investigating internally to make sure no group associated with the party sent the messages.
Shapiro said he appreciated the updated statement. However, he still had questions, including wanting to know the wording of an automatic reply to someone who opted out of any of the party’s SMS messages.
“It's not typically you hit stop then there’s no response,” he said.