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OAN’s Brooke Mallory
11:02 AM – Tuesday, June 18, 2024
A Democrat running for a county commissioner position in Texas and a former Biden appointee to the White House was arrested and has been accused of setting up a fake social media account in order to make racist remarks about himself in order to make his GOP opponent’s supporters look bad.
Following an investigation launched by incumbent Andy Meyers, Taral Patel, 30, the challenger for county commissioner in Fort Bend County Precinct 3, which is located just outside of Houston, was taken into custody last week for online impersonation.
Shortly after Patel shared a lengthy Meta (Facebook) post in September portraying himself and his family as victims of a racial slander campaign carried out by his opponent’s Republican supporters, the Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office launched an investigation.
A collage of over a dozen racist comments and messages that he claimed he had received during his campaign, labeling him derogatory, racist terms like “monkey” and “subhuman,” while disparaging his Hindu religious beliefs, was attached below the post as well.
According to Patel’s campaign website, he was appointed by President Joe Biden to the White House’s Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Committee and the Office of White House Liaison. He has also previously worked for the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division in the Public Integrity Section.
“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,” Patel said in his online post.
According to ABC 13, Meyers requested an investigation into Patel’s accusations after growing skeptical when he recognized one of the names in the collage, “Antonio Scalywag,” as someone who had previously attacked him online.
In order to get account details regarding the user profile, investigators served subpoenas to Facebook and Google. This information directly led them to Patel and included his address, phone number, bank card number, and other details.
Texas Rangers detained Patel on Wednesday on suspicion of third-degree internet impersonation, a felony, and misrepresenting his identity, a Class A misdemeanor.
“He was briefly held in Fort Bend County Jail before posting bond Thursday morning, putting up $20,000 for the felony charge and $2,500 for the misdemeanor. His next scheduled court appearance is July 22,” the New York Post reported.
The campaign website goes on to say that Patel was chosen by Biden to focus on issues pertaining to housing, urban development, and resilience to disasters in the Office of White House Liaison.
He was also a “key member” of the WHAANHPIC, according to the website.
Patel’s upcoming court appearance is currently scheduled for July 22nd.
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