SUGAR LAND, Texas (LifeSiteNews) — A Democrat running for local government in Texas has been arrested and charged with online impersonation for writing racist internet attacks against himself and attributing them to his Republican opponent.
On September 18 of last year, Taral Patel, the Democrat candidate for Fort Bend Precinct 3 Commissioner, who has also served in the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division as well as the Biden White House’s Office of White House Liaison, posted to Facebook a collection of screenshots of inflammatory comments allegedly directed at him by supporters of incumbent Republican Commissioner Andy Meyers. The posts include vicious remarks about his ethnicity and Hindu faith, including calling him a “monkey,” a “sand negroid subhuma[n] who smell[s] like curry and filth,” a “foreigner,” and a probable terrorist supporter and communist.
“As your Democratic candidate for County Commissioner, I am always open to criticism of my policy positions and stances on issues,” Patel wrote at the time. “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. Fort Bend County’s diversity has made us all stronger, and 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.”
Law & Crime reports that in response, Meyers noted that at least one of the comments had come from a Facebook user who, far from being a supporter of his, had also harassed him in the past, and asked authorities to look into the identities of the perpetrators. The New York Post adds that investigators obtained account records from Facebook and Google that traced the user profile back to Patel himself.
Last Wednesday, Texas Rangers arrested Patel on counts of online impersonation (a third-degree felony) and misrepresentation of identity (a class-A misdemeanor). Fox News notes that a profile image attached to one of the fake accounts was of a real Fort Bend resident, used without consent. Patel’s next court appearance in the case is slated for July 22.
“Whether Republican or Democrat, such tactics should be unequivocally condemned by all who value integrity and accountability in politics. This is not a partisan issue, and the good people of Fort Bend County should be able to trust that when allegations are made, they are sincere,” Fort Bend County Republican Party Chairman Bobby Eberle responded to the news.
“The constant use of the race card by the Democrats shows a deep disrespect for the residents of Fort Bend County,” he continued. “Rather than discussing and debating the real issues that we face every day, Democrats such as Taral Patel use accusations of racism to divide this county and hide their failed agenda. Fort Bend County residents deserve better leadership than someone who will create a fake account and post manufactured racist attacks – attempting to turn neighbor against neighbor – for political gain.”
Patel has not responded to multiple media outlets’ requests for comment so far. As of June 17, Patel has yet to issue any statement on the matter on his campaign website, nor has he posted any updates on his Facebook or X page since June 9.
Taral Patel is far from the first Democrat to land himself in such a scandal. Dating back several years, there is a long line of “hate crimes” purportedly committed against political liberals or sexual, racial, or religious minorities that the mainstream media seized upon but were later revealed to have been fabricated by the “victims” themselves.
Arguably the most famous example is that of gay left-wing actor Jussie Smollett, who in 2019 claimed two masked men allegedly shouted racial and “homophobic” epithets, beat him to the point of fracturing a rib, put a rope around his neck, and poured bleach on him in far-left Chicago. “This is MAGA country,” they allegedly yelled, a reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Smollett’s tale captured the attention of liberals in politics and media across the country, including future President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. But it was eventually discovered that Smollett paid two “attackers” to stage the assault, for which he was eventually sentenced to 150 days in prison, 30 months on probation, and more than $140,000 in financial penalties.
Additionally, left-wing activists often present real crimes against minorities as evidence of bigotry regardless of the actual facts of the case. Despite a meteoric rise in the LGBT movement’s social standing, political power, and cultural influence over the past several years, for example, left-wing activists continue attempting to paint homosexuals and gender-confused Americans as victims of a violence “epidemic,” usually by citing murder cases in which the victim identified as “LGBT” regardless of whether their status was the motive or even known to the perpetrator and by citing raw numbers of such deaths while omitting how they compare with overall crime statistics.
Last year, there were 26 “transgender” Americans who died by homicide according to the far-left LGBT activist group Human Rights Campaign, but none of the victims’ profiles establish transgender status as a motive for their killings; in fact, four were apparently murdered by sexual partners, one by a reckless driver, and one as part of a mass shooting in Chicago.
To put the number in perspective, the United States saw more than 19,000 overall murders in 2022, including 10,470 murders of blacks and 7,704 murders of whites, and in 2021 American Jews were the subjects of 321 hate-crime cases, followed by Sikhs at 214 cases.