Following allegations that he posted false hate comments to himself on social media, Taral Patel, a Democrat running for Fort Bend Precinct 3 Commissioner in Texas, was apprehended and charged with (OIMI) Online Impersonation and Misrepresentation of Identity.
As reported by the media, Taral Patel was apprehended by the Texas Rangers after an alleged months-long campaign in which he impersonated a supporter of Republican Commissioner Andy Meyers and sent himself hateful and degrading messages.
Without the person’s knowledge or approval, Patel even used a genuine photo of the Fort Bend resident as the profile photo for one of the racist posts.
In October 2023, Meyers asked the authorities to investigate who made the hateful statements directed at Patel, according to Patel’s arrest record.
Patel had posted a compilation of the self-written racist remarks that he said were written by Meyers’s followers, claiming that they reflected a profound and unwarranted fear among Republicans. Patel claimed that opinions and attitudes on topics are always subject to scrutiny as a Democrat candidate for County Commissioner. He then accused the supporters of his Republican opponent with the attack of his family, religious community, coworkers, and himself with racist, anti-immigrant, and Hinduphobic remarks.
Bobby Eberle, chairman of the Republican Party in Fort Bend County, expressed grave worry about Patel’s alleged conduct.
Eberle said that all those who hold politicians to high standards of honesty and transparency should vehemently reject these kinds of methods, regardless of their political affiliation. The upright citizens of Fort Bend County have a right to expect that accusations be made with the utmost seriousness. This is not a right or left political matter. He continued by saying that the people of Fort Bend County deserve more from their leaders than someone who would use a phony account to spread racist rhetoric in an effort to incite racial tensions between neighbors for personal political benefit.
