When 36-year-old Empire actor Jussie Smollett reported he received a threatening racist letter Jan. 22, suspicions were raised but not reported by the Chicago Police or any media outlet. One week later Jan. 29, Smolett says he was accosted by two individuals saying “This is MAGA [Make America Great Again] country,” screaming racial epithets, accosting him, dousing him with bleach and showing him a hangman’s noose. Smollett exploited every element of today’s racially charged atmosphere to advance the media’s narrative that President Donald Trump represents the interests of White nationalists, reinforcing Democrats’ message heading into the 2020 presidential election that the president is a dangerous homophobic racist that must be stopped. Instead of looking for verification, the Democrat Party and media rushed to judgment, believing Smollett’s tall tale that he was the victim of a hate crime.
Three weeks later, the Chicago Police charged Smollett with a Class 4 Felony carrying up to three years in jail for “disorderly conduct,” filing a false police report. Smollett’s cover was blown when his trainer Olabinjo Osundairo and his brother Abinboia Osundairo confessed to a grand jury that they were paid by Smollett $3,500 to stage the phony racist attack, providing Chicago police all the corroborating evidence, including the rope used to make the noose. Smollett’s attorneys promised to defend their client to the fullest extent of the law. “Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to amount an aggressive defense,” said Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson. Part of Smollett’s aggressive defense will be to plea bargain away possible jail time. No matter how incredulous Smollett’s story, the media and Democrat candidates swallowed it without objections.
Smollett told the Chicago Police Jan. 29 that his attackers put a noose around his neck and told him, “This is MAGA country.” Right there, police should have raised suspicions but not with Democrats and the anti-Trump media, walking right into Smollett’s clever story. Speaking at a press conference today, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson tried to ascribe a motive to Smollett’s hoax. “This stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary. He concocted a story about being attacked,” Johnson said. “We gave him the benefit of the doubt, referring to the police considering Smollett a hate crime victim for the last three weeks. Whether Smollett’s motive was money or not, it showed that he’s had gone over the deep end, trying draw maximum national attention, whether it advanced his career or landed him in jail.
Now in a whole lot of trouble, Smollett’s attorneys are trying to discredit what looks like an open-and-shut case. “Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, true and false, has been repeatedly leaked,” said Pugh and Henderson. Pugh and Henderson’s work got a whole lot harder when the Osundairo brothers confessed to their part of Smollett’s fake racist attack. When you have eyewitness reports like Smollett’s co-conspirators, it’s difficult for the defense to discredit their testimony. Fox Television, the producers of Empire, have been reluctant to comment over the last three weeks. “We are evaluating the situation and we are considering our options,” said Fox TV, knowing that, unless there’s some radical reversal, they’ll have to terminate Smollett.
Detaining the Osundairo brothers for two days, Johnson said they became cooperating witnesses after confessing to carrying out Smollett’s fake racial attack. Both brothers gave Chicago police a copy of Smollett’s $3,500 cancelled check, proving they were paid to stage the fake racial attack. Johnson speculated that when Smollett’s fake letter brought him no attention, he decided to go ahead with the staged racial attack. “When that didn’t work, Smollett paid $3,500 to stage this attack and drag Chicago’s reputation through the mud,” said Johnson. Johnson thought Smollett’s fake racial attack hurts police investigations of real hate crimes. When Smollett appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America Feb. 17, he was indignant that anyone would doubt his story, actually saying that disbelief came from racial bias. Smollett figured in today’s racially charged media, everyone would believe him.
Smollett’s shenanigans ultimately show a broken man, looking for more attention or, as Johnson suggests, a bigger paycheck. Thinking he could stage a racial attack, Smollett almost pulled off the perfect crime, were it not for the Onsundairo brothers who confessed their involvement in Smollett’s hoax. “My concern is that hate crimes will now be publicly met with a level of skepticism,” Johnson said, especially with Chicago’s daily struggle with gun violence. “What about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!? #MAGA,” tweeted President Donald Trump, upset by Smollett fingering Trump supporters for a hate crime. Cook County Judge John Fitzgerald set Smollett’s bail at $100,000. Charging Smollett with Class 4 felony “disorderly” conduct filing a false police report, Asst. State Atty. Risa Lanier said the state means business.
