Over the course of the last week, the Jussie Smollett case of him being attacked in a racist and homophobic hate crime has taken various turns. It was announced today that police are claiming that Smollett filed a false police report and are looking to charge him with a felony for disorderly conduct.
According to CNN, a bail hearing is anticipated for 1:30 p.m. CT Thursday, prosecutors said.
Smollett’s claims began to seemingly fall apart overnight, after police tracked down two Nigerian brothers captured on surveillance camera’s, during their search for footage of Smollett’s attack.
Chicago police claim the brothers, who are body-builders and have worked as extras on the set of Empire, were brought in for questioning and released after “cooperating” with police.
The brothers reportedly revealed they were paid $3,500 by Smollett to partake in this staged attack. After the attack, the brothers went to Nigeria and upon their arrival back to the U.S, were promised another $500 by Smollett.
The brothers were also captured on camera purchasing rope and mask allegedly used for the attack.
Smollett, who referred to himself as the “Gay Tupac” at a show in Los Angeles a week following the attack, also appeared on Good Morning America. In his only interview since the attack, Smollett defended his claims.
If Smollett did in fact stage this attack, the question now to be answered is: for what purposes? If he did in fact orchestrate this fictitious plot, perhaps Smollett is not grounded in reality.
Part of the recent statement from Smollett’s attorney reads as follows:
“Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense.”
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Amazingly, Smollett has pled not guilty. This in the face of overwhelming evidence that he is guilty: testimony from the Osundairo brothers, who have the cheque he wrote to pay them. How can he possibly get out from under evidence like that? Well, it looks so far, from statements from his lawyers, that his defense will be that the Chicago Police are racists who have framed him. A similar defense worked for the obviously guilty O.J. Simpson, so that might be the way the Smollett defense is going to go.
One of my favourite details is that Smollett kept the sandwich. Guy was so cheap that he couldn’t bear to throw away a sandwich that he had paid good money for, even though keeping the sandwich became a clue that the attack had never happened. Plus he paid the Osundairos a pittance for running the risk of hoaxing the police, and is now apparently willing to put all the blame on them. This is one snake-like little fella. Uh, assuming he is guilty, of course. I mean, it’s too soon to tell, right? Right?