A Texas Democrat accused of creating a fake social media account to post racist comments about himself to drum up sympathy is now being investigated for impersonating two others, including a judge.
Taral Patel, 30, an ex-Biden White House appointee and the challenger running for county commissioner in Fort Bend County Precinct 3, used the real name of District Court Judge Surendran Pattel on one of his accounts to communicate with another made-up persona using the name “Antonio Scalywag,” according to a July search warrant.
He’s now being investigated for utilizing yet another fake identity in his scheme to drum up sympathy by claiming he and his family were the victims of vicious online racial abuse.
The latest warrant alleges Patel created a third Facebook account, this time under the name “Jane Donnie,” using a Pennsylvania Realtor’s picture for the profile image without his knowledge.
He later confirmed to ABC13 that it was not his account.
Patel was arrested June 12 and charged with online impersonation and misrepresentation of identity following a lengthy investigation by the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office.
The probe into Patel’s alleged online alter-egos began last October, soon after a lengthy Facebook post in which he claimed he and his family were victims of a racist smear campaign perpetrated by supporters of his opponent, incumbent Andy Meyers.
His post included a collage with about a dozen hateful messages he claimed to receive, calling him vile names like “subhuman” and “monkey” and attacking his Hindu faith.
But his alleged scheme began to unravel when Meyers recognized Antonio Scalywag’s unusual name as someone who had previously trolled him online and requested an investigation into his opponent’s allegations.
Investigators determined the bogus account was set up by Patel, who was then hit with a third-degree online impersonation charge — a felony — as well as a Class A misdemeanor charge for misrepresentation of identity.
He was taken into custody and quickly bonded out on both charges.
In addition to his aspirations for county office, Patel’s campaign website cites numerous prior jobs, including chief of staff for Fort Bend County.
He says he also worked for the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division in the Public Integrity Section as deputy finance director for a governor and as a legislative staffer for the Texas House of Representatives.
According to the website, Patel was appointed by President Biden to serve in the Office of White House Liaison to work on matters related to housing, urban development, and disaster recovery and resilience.
The DA’s office said Patel has not yet been indicted on the initial charges, and that no new charges have been filed pursuant to the search warrants.
The office is continuing its investigation into both matters.
Patel has not made any public statements about the arrest or new investigations.
His only posts on his X page since his arrest have been about unrelated topics like mosquito control and a highway construction alert from July.
Not Surprised of the same Ole race bait and switch fragrance of the BLUE PILLED LEFTIST NAZIS OF TODAYS DEM PARTY ,THIS IS JUST MIRE OF THE SAME FROM THE SMULLETT SYNDICATE
Are there any honest democrats? I’m dead serious when I say, I don’t think so.