Texas Democrat Arrested for Allegedly Faking Racist Attacks on Himself

Taral Patel, a Texas Democrat running for Fort Bend county commissioner, was arrested and charged with felony online impersonation and misdemeanor identity misrepresentation.

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.

– Taral Patel, via a Facebook post, September 2022

Patel's claims of receiving hate messages were refuted when his Republican challenger, Andy Meyers, recognized the profile picture associated with the messages as a fake, prompting an investigation that linked the account to Patel.

The Local GOP Statement:

Patel used a fake Facebook account to send racist messages to himself and then blamed his political opponents. [...] Such tactics should be unequivocally condemned by all who value integrity and accountability in politics.

URLs:

• Arrest reported by KTRK and TND
• Patel's Facebook post: https://www.facebook.com/TaralPatelTX/posts/pfbid02y2Ncor81xU9mRzW1bUZLWgscXbVegKC9ztzAY4jXvVvQWFzU9npTbpBYvz6apf75l
• KVUE report on the investigation: https://www.kvue.com/article/news/local/fort-bend-county-commissioner-candidate-taral-patel-charged/285-5aba2278-d9ab-44ea-bcbc-c192b188a8cf
• Fort Bend County GOP statement comparison to Jussie Smollett: https://mynews4.com/news/nation-world/texas-dem-charged-with-faking-racist-online-attacks-on-self-report-says-concerning-taral-patel-democrat-candidate-fort-bend-county-precinct-3-commissioner-andy-meyes-republican-politics-dps
• Court appearance schedule: https://abc7chicago.com/post/fort-bend-county-texas-commissioner-candidate-taral-patel/14965622/