A county commissioner candidate and former Joe Biden appointee has been charged with faking his own racist hate mail.
Democratic candidate Taral Patel, who is standing for commissioner in Fort Bend County, TX, was charged on Wednesday, June 12, after being arrested on allegations of online impersonation.
The investigation into Patel’s affairs was commissioned by his opponent and incumbent Andy Meyers after a lengthy Facebook post in which the 30-year-old Patel claimed he was the victim of a race-based smear campaign. The post featured a collage of racist messages he had allegedly received over the course of his campaign.
“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 wrote.
Investigators from the Fort Bend District Attorney’s Office subpoenaed Facebook and Google for account information about the user profile. Their search led them back to Patel.
Patel was arrested on June 12 on a felony charge for online impersonation in the third degree, as well as the Class A misdemeanor charge for misrepresentation of identity. He posted a $22,500 bond the following morning with a court appearance scheduled for Monday, July 22.
Social media users expressed their outrage when reacting to the news.
Others compared to actor Jussie Smollett’s hate crime hoax from 2019.
The county commissioner election is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, November 5.
