Meet Taral Patel, a man who previously worked in the Criminal Division of Biden's Justice Department, and was even appointed to serve in the Office of White House Liaison, as well as the White House Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Committee.
(Fancy, I know!)
For unknown reasons, Patel left his job and began campaigning for a Houston-area political position. That dream seems to be at an end, because he was arrested by the Texas Rangers with the allegation that he faked violent/racist posts against himself in order to gain media attention.
Patel made national headlines in 2022 when he was targeted with this series of hateful posts on social media regarding his race and ethnicity.
Here's what some of those hateful posts looked like, according to Patel:
'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.' Patel wrote.
There was just one big problem with the whole story: Patel was uncovered as the source of the racist posts.
(What does a Democrat have to do to find a racist these days??)
According to affidavits filed by investigators with the Texas Rangers and the Fort Bend County District Attorney's Office (FBCDAO), in 2022, Patel created a Facebook profile under the name 'Antonio Scalywag,' which he used to make multiple offensive posts 'with the intent to harm, defraud, intimidate or threaten.'
...
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.' Although not all the posts appear to have been from 'Antonio Scalywag,' investigators were able to tie several to the account.
Records obtained from Google and Facebook's parent company Meta linked the Antonio Scalywag account to Patel's phone, credit card, social security number, driver's license, and address, as well as multiple email accounts.
In other words, he Smolletted himself.
(Is that a word yet? It should be.)
Patel created social media accounts under the nickname Antonio Scalywag and sent messages like this:
'I am against false gods and their worshippers (sic) winning office in a Christian nation. I am with Meyers ALL THE WAY because he serves Jesus, unlike Patel and his followers who worship Monkey and Elephant,' one Scalywag post said.
His opponent Andy Meyers recognized the name Antonio Scalywag as someone who had attacked him online before, which made him suspicious of the account, and he called for an investigation.
When investigators traced the IP address of Scalywag, they found Patel on the other side of the account.
He'd also used a random photo of some poor schlub and his family in Needville, TX, which when you think about it is particularly egregious. The poor guy was branded by the whole nation as a racist, and he didn't even use social media.
Patel stole the photo from the guy's wife's real estate website!
(Does he not know a reverse image search can find the source of random pictures online in less than a second flat??)
Patel currently faces two counts of Felony Online Impersonation and one Class A misdemeanor charge of Misrepresentation of Identity, a Texas Election Code violation.
While he immediately posted his $22,500 bond, the terms of his bond won't do much for his election.
Patel's bond conditions include having no contact with the Needville man whose identity was stolen. He also had to surrender his passport, can't possess a firearm or any weapon, or use any electronic device that allows internet access unless he has specific approval from the probation department. Patel is also banned from using any software programs designed to hide, alter, or delete logs of computer use.
He better hope he has some staff to run his social media accounts.
I hear there are two Nigerian brothers that will do this sort of stuff for cheap.
They'll even yell "This is MAGA Country!!" to make it convincing.
Shout out to Not the Bee user @bobster for the heads up about this story.
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