A former Biden administration appointee and aspiring Texas lawmaker has been accused of running four fake social media accounts that were harassing him and his campaign.
Taral Patel, 30, was arrested in June and charged with online impersonation and a Class A misdemeanor after he allegedly staged racist attacks against himself in an attempt to gain sympathy.
The Democratic candidate for Fort Bend County commissioner is now accused of running several fake accounts – including one where he impersonated a real district judge, as reported by ABC 13.
Patel allegedly used images of real people to create the fake Facebook accounts, which he used to abuse himself online – possibly to gain the public’s sympathy.
Court records show that current Precinct 3 Commissioner Andy Meyers requested police open a probe into the racist comments against Patel last October.
Taral Patel, 30, was arrested in June and charged with online impersonation and a Class A misdemeanor after he allegedly staged racist attacks against himself
Meyers believed that one of the names belonged to an account called ‘Antonio Scalywag,’ who he said had also previously harassed him online.
As a result of a subpoena to Facebook and Google, Scalywag was traced back to Patel, and the Democrat was subsequently arrested.
Prosecutors say Patel used a photo of a Needville man’s family for the account, which he supposedly use to send hate to himself.
Patel is also accused of impersonating a Fort Bend County employee and creating a fake Facebook under the name of real District Court Judge Surendran Pattel.
Detectives say they also linked Patel to the email address ‘[email protected],’ which he used to open a Facebook account with the name of ‘Jane Donnie’ and the picture of a real Pennsylvania realtor.
Patel has not addressed the claims since he was bailed out of jail in June, and remains a candidate for Fort Bend County Precinct 3.
Last September he wrote a long Facebook post that he paired with a collage of nearly a dozen disparaging posts that attack his race, ethnicity, religion, and political affiliations
Patel has not addressed the claims since he was bailed out of jail in June, and remains a candidate for Fort Bend County Precinct 3
He has, however, published several tweets following his arrest, one of which reads: ‘Good morning to everyone except Texas sized mosquitoes.’
Last September he wrote a long Facebook post that he paired with a collage of nearly a dozen disparaging posts that attack his race, ethnicity, religion, and political affiliations.
The collage featured comments that appeared to come from accounts that extolled conservative Christian virtues, and railed against immigrants – the names attached to most of the comments are blurred or otherwise obscured in the image.
Patel is also accused of impersonating a Fort Bend County employee and creating a fake Facebook under the name of real District Court Judge Surendran Pattel (pictured)
Patel, a rising Democrat, is seen with Barack Obama
Patel’s long-winded statement about the comments reads in part, ‘I am always open to criticism of my policy positions and stances on issues. However, when my Republican opponents supporters’ decide to hurl #racist, #anti-immigrant, #Hinduphobic, or otherwise disgusting insults at my family, faith community, colleagues, and me – that crosses a line.
‘Fort Bend County’s diversity has made us all stronger, and these hateful images (a small sample attached here) are from a place of deep and misguided fear – incited by people like former President Donald Trump and today’s extremist Republican Party fear that immigrants are “taking their jobs” and setting out to hurt our own communities.’
In 2021, Patel was appointed as a White House liaison addressing housing, urban development, and disaster recovery and resilience.