Dem candidate arrested for faking racist posts against himself... from accounts booked with his credit card.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

Taral Patel, a Fort Bend County candidate, is charged for allegedly making a fake social media account and posting racist comments about himself.


Authorities say Taral Patel also used the fake account to make racist comments under his own Facebook posts. He was arrested earlier this week on a third-degree felony charge of online impersonation and a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity.

Patel won the Democratic primary for the seat in March. He's set to run against incumbent Republican Andy Meyers in November.

Patel could not be reached for comment on Thursday.

Last fall, Patel sent out a press release saying he had been the target of racist comments on social media. But at least three of those comments came from a social media account that Patel himself created, investigators allege in court records.

The username on those three comments was concealed in Patel’s press release. But Meyers tracked down the comments and found that they were posted by a user named “Antonio Scalywag.”

The commissioner recognized the account as someone who had previously attacked him on social media. Meyers had hired a private investigator, who could not locate anyone in the county with that name.

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Investigators also found that Patel used the fake Facebook account to attack Abrahim Javed, another candidate in the Democratic primary. Javed was the runner-up in the primary, with about 28% of the votes.

Patel previously served as chief of staff for KP George, who has endorsed him. On Thursday, George released a statement, though he did not name Patel directly.

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/fort-bend/2024/06/13/490615/candidate-for-fort-bend-county-commissioner-taral-patel-arrested/

Limited details have been released, but the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office reports Patel is held on a $20,000 bond for the felony and a $2,500 bond for the misdemeanor. He will appear before a magistrate on Thursday morning if he does not post bond.

https://www.fox26houston.com/news/taral-patel-fort-bend-precinct-3-commissioner-candidate-arrested

[johnp3907]

1. Let's all rally around him and claim it's all rigg.......

I couldn't even finish the snark!

[tritsofme]

2. Definitely sounds shady, but I have a hard time seeing a crime.

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

3. "In 2022, Patel added a profile picture to the "Antonio Scalywag" Facebook account of a man who lived in Fort Bend Count

In 2022, Patel added a profile picture to the “Antonio Scalywag” Facebook account of a man who lived in Fort Bend County, investigators allege. The man told the district attorney’s account that he did not run the Facebook account and did not consent to its use of his photo.

[ColinC]

15. So is using somebody's photo without consent against the law?

Like if somebody took my publicly posted picture as their own, how exactly is that a crime? Weird of course and kinda twisted, but I’m still failing to see where the crime is.

[wnylib]

20. Identity theft. Libel when written or slander when spoken.

Falsely characterized the person whose photo he used.

Imagine if someone claimed to be you and posted support for the J6 insurrection in your name. Damages your reputation.

[ColinC]

29. Excellent. Thank you!

[tulipsandroses]

4. What a disgrace. Can he be replaced by the runner up

Not only is he a disgrace, he’s an idiot.
Did he get advice from Jussie Smollet?

How did he think he could get away with this in today’s Information Age?
Jackass!

[BlueWaveNeverEnd]

6. Republican probably sails to victory

Last edited Sat Jun 15, 2024, 03:36 AM - Edit history (1)

[chowder66]

12. Maybe a write in.

Not sure.

[LeftInTX]

25. No. He's stuck on the ballot, just like Cuellar is.

Until he's convicted of a felony.

Maybe since it's a county race the Democratic party can replace him, if he drops out. The governor won't get involved in county races.

[JoseBalow]

5. Is it a crime now to use a fake identity online?

[TheKentuckian]

7. I don't know about a crime but in context it was weapons grade stupid ratfucking.

As it seemingly was destined to catch up sooner or later. Just as we see.

I'd guess that the criminality is related to doing it being a candidate not just having a pseudo name.

[stopdiggin]

9. and co-opting (stealing) the picture/identity of a real resident

in the making of ...

[JoseBalow]

17. Ya, the charges listed seem confusing to me

a third-degree felony charge of online impersonation and a misdemeanor charge of misrepresentation of identity

Is there a real person named Antonio Scalywag?

[muriel_volestrangler]

31. Apparently, it needed a private investigator for the Republican to rule it out

which makes me think he lacks any sense of humour, or experience of online pseudonyms.

[stopdiggin]

8. are we going to attempt to DEFEND this scummy behavior ?

proud to have him as a representative of our brand? Lying is just A-okay these days?

"Look at these dirty racists attacking me .. !" . - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

[Deuxcents]

13. I won't be defending him. At all. Stupid comes in all colors, shapes n sizes n he fits em all.

[riversedge]

30. It was sure a stupid thing to do.

[JoseBalow]

16. I hope not

[electric_blue68]

21. I wouldn't. Wth!

[wnylib]

22. If you attach someone else's photo to the statements

made by the fake identity, yes.

Example: Someone posts a photo of you attached to a username that spouts racial slurs, or praises the J6 insurrectionists. Your boss sees it and tells you, "JoseBalow, I saw what you posted and that's unacceptable for our company's reputation. You are terminated, effective immediately."

You have no way of knowing who used your photo so you can't prove that it was not you behind that username. You can't afford a private investigator, especially after losing your job. The record of why you were terminated follows you when you look for new work. Your family and friends are astonished to discover that side of you and distance themselves from you. Your reputation is ruined by someone who stole your identity to post vile things.

That's libel for starters. And the crime of identity theft.

[JoseBalow]

23. Ah, I didn't realize he was using another person's photo

It's so easy to make a fake AI profile pic, this guy is certainly no genius. I can see how that would justify the charges.

Random Face Generator (This Person Does Not Exist)
Generate random human face in 1 click and download it! AI generated fake person photos: man, woman or child.This website creates realistic faces of non-existent people using a neural network.

https://this-person-does-not-exist.com

It's not always that easy to spot a fake face... https://www.whichfaceisreal.com

[MorbidButterflyTat]

33. Not sure about that

You should check out the show "Catfish" on MTV. They've been tracking down fake profiles for over ten years. Never heard about anyone being sued or prosecuted for it, though.

[oasis]

10. You very bad man Taral Patel

very bad!

[JoseBalow]

24. LOL!

[NBachers]

11. Rule #1: Do not use the name of a cartoon villain as your bogus nemesis.

“Antonio Scalywag.”

[TSExile]

14. What an IDIOT this guy is!!!

[pecosbob]

18. Almost a million people in that county.

[Skittles]

19. boy's about as sharp as a bowling ball

[SamKnause]

26. Stupid fuck.

[Bucky]

27. This story is for everyone who says we need to fight like the Republicans

"The Magats cheat and lie. If we want to beat them, we have to fight like then too," says anyone who doesn't understand what it means to be liberal.

[stopdiggin]

32. THANK YOU !! Did that ever need to be said!

Unfortunately, a lot of these people are well to the left. They just don't have any particular interest in ethics - (or what we all end up with when engaging in a 'race to the bottom)'

[intheflow]

28. Dude. You only had to wait for maybe 5 minutes

before a troll posted something racist about you. No need to bring this on yourself.

[republianmushroom]

34. Dumb