Jurors reached a verdict in the trial for former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, who is accused of staging a hoax attack on himself in downtown Chicago almost three years ago.
The jury found Smollett guilty on five ofl six felony counts!
They really had to find him guilty, especially after he testified with what could only be described as a fantastical story.
Smollett hired two Nigerian men to pretend to beat him so he could get publicity. This was after he sent himself a hoax hate letter. He filed a false police report and set off an expensive and lengthy investigation driving hate for Trump supporters as he claimed the men were Magas.
On the stand, Smollett referred to himself as the “Black Cary Grant,” suggesting he took the stand out of arrogance. It was a mistake.
Smollett was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct after police said he made false reports about being the victim of a hate crime. He faces up to three years in prison.
In his closing, special prosecutor Dan Webb said Smollett caused Chicago police to spend enormous resources investigating an alleged crime that they now believe is fake. Smollett, who is Black and gay, told police someone put a noose around his neck and yelled racist and homophobic slurs during the January 2019 attack near his downtown Chicago home.
“Besides being against the law, it is just plain wrong to outright denigrate something as serious as a real hate crime and then make sure it involved words and symbols that have such historical significance in our country,” Webb said.
He also accused Smollett of lying to jurors, saying surveillance video from before the alleged attack and that night contradicts key moments of Smollett’s testimony.
CORRECTION: WE ACCIDENTALLY SAID HE WAS FOUND GUILTY OF 6 COUNTS BUT HE WAS ONLY FOUND GUILTY OF FIVE OF SIX.
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