A Houston-area Democratic judge and a former chief of staff who is also running for county commissioner as a Democrat now face calls to resign from their respective political races after allegedly engaging in a race-based hoax I am doing it. Empathize with each campaign.
The alleged scheme involves Fort Bend County Judge KP George, a naturalized U.S. citizen from India. Talal Patel is running for the seat representing Precinct 3 on the Fort Bend County Commission. and a Facebook account named “Antonio Scallywag.”
“I'm with Myers all the way…unlike Patel and his followers who worship monkeys and elephants.”
Under Scaliwag's alter ego Patel allegedly posted on Facebook“Was he born here? Probably a communist,” he said, referring to himself.
In another post referring to his opponent, incumbent Republican Andy Meyers, Patel, posing as a scalywag, said, “I'm with Meyers all the way… unlike Patel and his supporters who worship monkeys and elephants.” It is said that he wrote
The profile picture on the Scalywag account is a photo of a man from Needville. Any connection refused along with your account. However, the account is linked to an email address associated with Patel's parents and a credit card number associated with Patel, according to the Houston Landing.
Last September, Patel tweeted: graphic It denounced some of the messages as a “barrage of racist attacks” aimed at disrupting the governor's campaign.
Patel was arrested in June and charged with four felonies of online impersonation and two misdemeanor counts of identity theft. KTRK Reported.
Investigators investigating Patel's case stumbled upon messages that also implicated Judge George.
Two years ago, when Mr. Patel was still Mr. George's chief of staff and supporting Mr. George's re-election campaign, Mr. Patel told Mr. George, “They're just blowing up our social media. I will use a fake account to fight back,'' he allegedly sent a text message.
On another occasion, Patel allegedly wrote George a letter saying, “Post the image now.”
“If you approve, let me know and I'll share this post,” Patel also wrote, according to the warrant. KTRK reported that these messages may be related to racist remarks from Scallywag and other fake accounts used by Patel.
“I would also like to add that this heinous act is not representative of Fort Bend County. We are the most diverse and inclusive county. Our diversity is our strength,” George responded. It is said that
Within days of allegedly sending that response in 2022, George publicly denounced the message, saying it was shared by then-opponent Trevor Neals, the twin brother of Republican U.S. Rep. Troy Neals. He argued that it may be related to.
“A lot of these people are even tagging him on his website and webpages and things like that,” George told KTRK at the time. that. “
“The allegation is that George and Talal Patel orchestrated racist messages to essentially victimize George KP, clearly with the aim of winning a political race. ”
Through a spokesperson, George quickly dismissed the allegations raised in recent weeks, insisting he was a “witness and not a target” of the investigation. “I have not been charged with any crime, nor do I plan to be charged,” he said in a Sept. 20 statement.
George's prediction was wrong.
Last Thursday, a grand jury indicted George. misdemeanor count Misrepresenting the identity of a candidate. The indictment accuses George of using Scaleywag's Facebook account on September 26, 2022, “with the intent to harm a candidate or influence the outcome of an election.”
There have also been allegations that George tried to force a factory reset on Samsung devices.
Investigators seized the device on September 17 and reportedly found that someone had entered the wrong passcode 15 times. After five more incorrect passcode attempts, the device reportedly triggered a factory reset.
According to court documents, a Texas Ranger witnessed George operating the device. George has not been charged with obstruction or evidence tampering.
In a statement released last Thursday, George insisted that “justice will prevail when all the facts are presented.”
“In this country, you are innocent until proven guilty. I intend to prove my innocence in court,” the statement added.
Patel's attorney, Frank Everino, did not respond to KTRK's request for comment.
Myers, Patel's opponent, finds the allegations shocking. According to the Daily Mail, Myers said: “George and Talal Patel are people whose posts were basically made to victimize George KP during the election campaign, clearly with the aim of winning a political race.'' “It's an orchestrated speciesist message.”
“They did this for personal gain, and I think that's reprehensible.”
Fort Bend County Mayor Dexter McCoy, a fellow Democrat, called on Patel to halt his campaign.
“Would we support an individual who faces credible allegations of undermining faith in our democracy just because he is a member of our team?” McCoy, according to the Houston Landing. wrote in a letter:
“This is about the future of our community, and we cannot stand idly by and act and consent to this type of behavior.”
County Republican Party Chairman Bobby Eberle similarly said that if the allegations are true, Patel and George should stand down for what they called a “deeply corrupt and shameful” attempt to inflame “racial division.” suggested.
“In 2022, when Democrat George KP claimed to have been the victim of racist social media posts, something felt wrong. Fast forward to this election cycle, and his former chief of staff Talal Patel, now the Democratic candidate for Precinct 3 commissioner, said the same thing and criticized his Republican opponents and supporters.
“Fort Bend County voters must reject the politics of racial division and election interference,” he continued. “These Democrats are not qualified to represent Fort Bend County and that begs the question: How many more Democrats are involved in this current administration?”
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