Left: Taral Patel in a campaign photo; Right: a collage of hate speech, some allegedly forged by the candidate himself (Taral Patel for Commissioner — Fort Bend County Precinct 3)
A candidate for county office in the far-flung Houston suburbs allegedly impersonated racists online — attacking himself with racist and xenophobic posts — in order to bring attention to his campaign.
Taral Patel, 30, has been the Democrat running for Fort Bend County Commission Precinct 3 since last year. As of this week, he stands accused of one count each of online impersonation, a third-degree felony, and misrepresentation of identity, a Class A misdemeanor.
On Sept. 18, 2023, Patel authored a lengthy Facebook post that contained an image collage of several different Facebook posts. Among those posts were instances of anti-Asian, anti-Pakistani, anti-Indian, anti-Hindu, anti-Chinese, anti-George Soros, anti-taxation, anti-Democrat, anti-curry, and anti-communist rhetoric. The collage featured multiple users often extolling the virtues of Christianity, America, and the GOP — as well as the Republican incumbent in the race — though a few such identities were redacted.
In the Facebook post, Patel mostly pitches his candidacy and campaign — and his own story of growing up in Fort Bend County, but the inflammatory attacks are clearly intended to be the main event. And, Patel says, those attacks can be traced back to the incumbent’s own supporters and broader trends in Republican Party politics.
The post reads, at length:
As your Democratic candidate for County Commissioner, 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.
At the time the post was made, a spokesperson for Republican incumbent Andy Meyers said they tried to authenticate the identities of those who made the comments but were unsuccessful.
Meyers also noticed that one of the redacted names was not redacted completely — believing it to be the Facebook account of a person called “Antonio Scalywag.” That person, Meyers would go on to tell law enforcement, had harassed him online, according to a report by Houston-based ABC affiliate KTRK.
The incumbent subsequently requested an investigation by the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office. Law enforcement obtained a subpoena and allegedly traced the Scalywag account back to Patel. The defendant was arrested by Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
It is unclear if the entirety of the accounts featured in the collage are believed to have been ginned for Patel’s campaign purposes.
Patel previously served as chief of staff for Fort Bend County Judge KP George. The defendant’s mentor issued a statement referring to “the gravity of the situation” and calling the incident “unfortunate,” but largely reserving judgment due to “the principles of due process and impartial investigation” and “ensuring justice and accountability.”
The Democratic challenger for the seat Meyers has held since 1997 made bail on Thursday and is next slated to appear in court on July 22.
Law&Crime reached out to Patel’s campaign for comment on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at time of publication.
As of this writing, Patel last posted on Facebook on June 9, congratulating Team India on their six-run win against Team Pakistan in a recent ICC Cricket World Cup group match.
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