Texas: Taral Patel, a candidate for Fort Bend County commissioner, has been arrested and accused of creating a fake Facebook account to attack his opponents and make racist comments under his own posts. Authorities allege that Patel used this fake account to post derogatory comments targeting himself, alleging terrorism, and communism, and making disparaging remarks about Hinduism. Patel was booked into jail on June 12, with a $20,000 bond for the felony charge and a $2,500 bond for the misdemeanor charge.
Patel faces a third-degree felony charge of online impersonation and a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity. Patel had won the Democratic primary for the commissioner seat in March.
Last fall, Patel issued a press release claiming he was the target of racist comments on social media. However, investigators allege that at least three of those comments came from a fake account Patel created himself. According to court records, the district attorney’s office found that Patel created the account, named “Antonio Scalywag,” in 2021 to criticize his opponents, Houston Public Media reported.
In 2022, Patel allegedly added a profile picture of a man from Fort Bend County to the fake account. This man told investigators that he did not run the account and did not consent to the use of his photo.
