A black actor on the notable TV drama “Empire” who claims he was beaten in the blustery, early morning hours in Chicago recently by two white men using racial epithets and carrying bleach and a noose has thus far not had his story substantiated by police.
Jussie Smollett, who is known to post vulgar tirades critical of POTUS Donald Trump on social media, told police he took himself to Northwestern Hospital after the alleged attack and is currently described as being in “good condition.”
The New York Times reported that he was attacked “by two people who yelled racial and homophobic slurs and wrapped a rope around his neck.” Initially, Chicago Police announced they are investigating the incident as a “hate crime.”
"Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime,” a police statement said.
The Chicago Sun-Times, citing a spokesman with the Chicago PD, reported further that following the alleged attack, Smollett went to an apartment and that his manager later called police. When they arrived, the paper said, a “thin, light rope” was still around his neck.
In a follow-up interview, Smollett told police that his attackers allegedly yelled, “This is MAGA country,” a reference to POTUS Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, the Sun-Times reported. There is no indication, based on initial reporting, that Smollett initially told police officers that his attackers had said that, though it would seem integral to such an attack as well as a claim that it was a “hate crime.”
Smollett claimed that he was walking to a Subway restaurant to get something to eat around 2 a.m. when he was attacked. But subsequent reports noted that so far, police have not be able to find any evidence on video that the attack took place, despite the fact that “investigators ‘for the most part’ can confirm the route Smollett took early Tuesday,” The Associated Press reported:
[Police spokesman] Guglielmi said detectives who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from businesses and hotels in the heavily monitored area. But he said they still need to collect and view more. He said they are expanding the search to include footage from public buses and buildings beyond the scene’s immediate vicinity in the hopes of spotting the men who match Smollett’s description of the suspects.
Some details already aren’t adding up
“We haven’t seen anybody, at this point, matching the description he gave, nobody looks menacing and we didn’t find a container anywhere,” a reference to a container of liquid — the bleach, ostensibly — that Smollett said was thrown on him by his alleged assailants.
Smollett has a history of posting highly critical remarks of the president on his Twitter account — remarkably without suffering any censorship or bans like many conservatives do when they are far less critical of Left-wing figures. (Related: Three black students who faked hate crime….get probation.)
https://twitter.com/JussieSmollett/status/951676064811634688
“Dear @realDonaldTrump…you are a disgusting, racist, piece of trash…Sincerely, Everyone who is not a disgusting, racist, piece of trash.”
In another post, he wrote, “Shut the hell up you bitch ass ni**a. You will continue to run this country further into the ground and risk lives every time you breathe. You’re not the president. Just a dumpster full of hate. FOH. Sick to my stomach that literal shit currently represents America to the world.”
https://twitter.com/JussieSmollett/status/951681671027404800
Again, it’s too soon to tell whether Smollett has fabricated the part about his attackers being white, showering him with bleach and making the “MAGA country” statement. But blacks and other minorities have made similar phony claims about “racist” Trump supporters in the past.
Read more about hate crime hoaxes at Hoax.news.
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