Jussie Smollett: Grand Jury?!? Hate Crime Hoax?

January 29 2019: Jussie Smollett, a black gay actor from “Empire,” claimed that he was assaulted by two white men in MAGA hats with a noose and a bleach-like liquid on him at 2 AM on the below-freezing, snowy streets of Chicago.

Smollett alleged that his attackers asked him, “Aren’t you that f*ggot Empire n*gger?” TMZ reported on Smollett’s claims at the time:


Somehow Smollett was able hang onto his Subway sandwich throughout the entire attack, because he was seen on surveillance still holding it when he returned to his apartment.

Chicago police claimed via statement:


Empire creator and producer Lee Daniels described Smollett’s claims as “just another f*cking day in America.”

NAACP: The recent racist and homophobic attack on acclaimed actor and activist Jussie Smollett is troubling. The rise in hate crimes is directly linked to President Donald J. Trump’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric. It is dangerous for any society to allow a tone of divisiveness and hatred to dominate the political discourse. As this rhetoric continues to bleed into our everyday lives, dangerous behavior will continue to place many law-abiding individuals at risk. We pray for a full physical and mental recovery Jussie Smollett and many unnamed victims of this forum of hate based terrorism.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA): But we have to understand this is happening for a reason. Why all of a sudden do we have people unable to study while black, unable to mow a lawn while black, unable to have a picnic while black, and being attacked? It’s coming from the President of the United States. He’s dog-whistling every day. He’s separating and dividing, and he is basically emboldening those folks who feel this way, maybe never said and never talked about it, never could act it out, but now they’re on it.