A Fort Bend Democrat is facing a slew of criminal charges for allegedly creating multiple online accounts that he used to post racist comments about himself and County Judge KP George.
Taral Patel, the Democratic nominee for Fort Bend County Commissioner Precinct 3, was arrested earlier this year on related charges, but last week a grand jury indicted him on four felony counts of Online Impersonation and four misdemeanor charges including Online Impersonation and Misrepresentation of Identity with intent to “harm.”
Investigators with the Texas Rangers and the Fort Bend County District Attorney’s Office say that in 2022 Patel created a Facebook profile under the name of Antonio Scalywag, which he used to make multiple offensive posts. For the profile picture, Patel used a photo of Fort Bend County resident Patrick Ernst along with Ernst’s wife and two minor children.
Posts from the “Scalywag” account included support for former President Donald Trump and other Republicans, but others were critical of Fort Bend County Commissioner Andy Meyers (R-Pct. 3). After Patel announced plans to run as a Democrat for the commissioner’s seat, “Antonio Scalywag” shifted to making positive comments about Meyers but with a racist tinge.
In September 2023, the account sent out a press release with images of social media posts that called Patel a “dirty Pakistani” and other incendiary terms and accused him of worshiping “Monkey and Elephant.”
After Patel’s initial arrest, investigators seized his electronic devices and found evidence that Patel also impersonated Judge Surendran Pattel and sent messages under the name Paul Rosenstein. Emails from “Rosenstein” sent to multiple Fort Bend County residents and business owners claimed that Meyers could not win re-election and should not be supported financially or otherwise.
Some of the racist posts tied to Patel were also included in George’s re-election campaign materials in 2022.
Prior to the new indictments, both Fort Bend County Sheriff Eric Fagan and Harris County Constable Jerry Garcia announced they would no longer support Patel. Last week the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation rescinded their endorsement and issued a statement expressing opposition to his candidacy.
Fagan told KPRC News in Houston that Patel had taken selfies while accompanying the sheriff on a criminal investigation. Another outlet, Covering Katy News, reported that Patel posted photographs from his ride along with Fagan on his Facebook campaign page that included a minor child.
A since-removed endorsement page from Patel’s campaign website included state Rep. Gene Wu (D-Houston) and Harris County Commissioner Adrian Garcia (D-Pct. 2).
Husein Hadi, a Fort Bend County attorney, is preparing a class action lawsuit. She has dedicated a website page to the effort calling Patel “a disgrace to the Democratic Party.”
“His deceitful tactics, including online impersonation and harassment, are unacceptable and go against the values of honesty and transparency that we uphold,” wrote Hadi.
Patel has not offered public comment on the matter since his arrest or the new indictments.
George told KPRC he seeks “to fully understand the circumstances surrounding this unfortunate incident,” but has not publicly withdrawn his support for Patel.
Patel formerly served as George’s chief of staff but left in 2021 to attend law school and serve in the Biden administration in Washington, D.C. In March, he narrowly evaded a runoff election with 50.9 percent of the vote.
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