MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — A lawsuit has been filed against Morgantown Deputy Mayor Brian Butcher for alleged defamation against a local developer that included claims of threats to physically harm a public official and their family members.

Metro Properties developer David Biafora filed the lawsuit in Monongalia County Circuit Court seeking $1.25 million in damages, where he claims that Butcher intentionally made defamatory and slanderous statements motivated by “his anti-capitalist desire to wreck the reputation of the plaintiff and to otherwise cause others not to associate with the plaintiff in any real estate ventures within Monongalia County specifically.”

In the lawsuit, Biafora claims that Butcher published and communicated accusations via text message to fellow Morgantown-based develop

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