Published on Mar 26, 2019
(BLACK PRIVILEGE) – Criminal charges dropped in case against Jussie Smollett, attorneys say
Chicago prosecutors have dropped criminal charges against ‘Empire’ star and alleged hate crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett. The actor had been indicted on 16 felony counts for faking a ‘racist and homophobic’ attack on himself.
Smollett claimed in January that two masked men wearing red hats yelled racial slurs at him, put a noose around his neck, poured bleach on his skin and shouted “This is MAGA country” – a reference to President Trump’s ‘Make America Great Again’ catchphrase. Smollett’s case began to unravel, however, after it emerged that the actor allegedly paid two Nigerian brothers to stage the attack.
Smollett’s initial story captivated outrage-hungry politicians and media figures. 2020 presidential candidates Sen. Kamala Harris (D-California) and Sen. Cory Booker (D-New Jersey) called the supposed attack a “modern day lynching,” Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California) called it an “act of hatred and bigotry,” and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) called it “an affront to our humanity.”
All of these Democrat leaders deleted their tweets when Smollett himself was arrested and charged in February.
After the charges against him were dropped on Tuesday, Smollett’s attorneys said that their client “was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement.”
Prosecutors dropped the case after “reviewing all of the facts and circumstances,” and taking into account Smollett’s volunteer service in the community. His lawyers, without a trace of irony, called the case “a reminder that there should never be an attempt to prove a case in the court of public opinion.”
The prosecutors’ decision shocked conservatives, some of whom viewed Smollett’s easy ride as a form of “leftist privilege,” and District Attorney Kimberly Foxx’s membership of the Democratic party as instrumental in her decision to let Smollett off the hook.
‘EMPIRE’ BOMBSHELL! SMOLLETT CHARGES DROPPED STAR STICKS TO STORY HE WAS ATTACKED COMMUNITY SERVICE CASE SEALED CHICAGO POLICE ‘FURIOUS’
CHICAGO (CBS) — Less than two weeks after “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty to 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly lying to police about a hate crime, prosecutors have dropped charges in the case.
Cook County prosecutors agreed to drop the charges against Smollett at an unscheduled hearing in the case Tuesday morning. Smollett will forfeit the $10,000 bail he posted after his arrest.
“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office stated in an email.
Sources tell CBS 2 that CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson is furious and that he received no notification about the charges being dropped. CBS 2 is told that he will speak after the police graduation taking place.
Smollett’s spokesperson said his record would be “fully expunged.”
“Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him. Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement,” spokeswoman Anne Kavanaugh stated in an email.
“Jussie and many others were hurt by these unfair and unwarranted actions. This entire situation is a reminder that there should never be an attempt to prove a case in the court of public opinion. That is wrong. It is a reminder that a victim, in this case Jussie, deserves dignity and respect. Dismissal of charges against the victim in this case was the only just result.
“Jussie is relieved to have this situation behind him and is very much looking forward to getting back to focusing on his family, friends and career.”
A judge also granted a motion to seal the case.
More details are expected soon, after an unscheduled emergency hearing Tuesday morning.
Smollett was accused of falsifying a police report, and lying to police. Each of the 16 counts against him covers various alleged acts that Smollett falsely described to the officers–including that he was hit by two men, that they yelled racial and homophobic slurs and poured a chemical on him.
Smollett, who is black and openly gay, had told police he was attacked as he was walking home around 2 a.m. on Jan. 29. He claimed two masked men – one of them also wearing a red hat – shouted racist and homophobic slurs as they beat him, put a noose around his neck, and poured a chemical on him.
Police said, in reality, Smollett had paid Ola and Abel Osundairo to stage the attack.
CBS 2’s Charlie De Mar has reported Smollett also directed the brothers to buy the noose at a hardware store and the hat and masks at a store in Uptown. Chicago Police Supt. Eddie Johnson said police have the check.
Police said the two brothers wore gloves during the staged attack, and did punch Smollett, but the scratches and bruises on Smollett’s face most likely were self-inflicted.
Police at the time said the attack was a publicity stunt because the actor was upset about his pay on the show.
Smollett has denied all the allegations.
More on Jussie Smollett:
Brothers At The Center Of Jussie Smollett Case In A Different Fight: The Boxing Ring
While actor Jussie Smollett fights for his freedom, the two brothers at the center of his case were involved in a different kind of fight Thursday night.
“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pleaded not guilty Thursday to 16 counts of disorderly conduct, nearly a week after he was indicted for allegedly lying to police about a hate crime.
Democrat James Clyburn Utters Most INSANE Defense Yet Of Ilhan Omar
By ASHE SCHOW
Democrats have been falling over themselves to try and defend Rep. Ilhan Omar’s (D-MN) anti-Semitism, but House Minority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) might have just taken the cake.
Clyburn, in an interview with the Hill’s Mike Ellis, basically told descendants of Holocaust survivors and those who were put in Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s Japanese internment camps to “check their privilege” (h/t Seth Mandel).
The Hill described Clyburn’s comments thusly:
Clyburn came to Omar’s defense Wednesday, lamenting that many of the media reports surrounding the recent controversy have omitted mentioning that Omar, who was born in Somalia, had to flee the country to escape violence and spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp before coming to the United States.
Her experience, Clyburn argued, is much more empirical — and powerful — than that of people who are generations removed from the Holocaust, Japanese internment camps during World War II and the other violent episodes that have marked history.
In case one suspects this is an uncharitable paraphrase, here’s what Clyburn said right after:
“I’m serious about that. There are people who tell me, ‘Well, my parents are Holocaust survivors.’ ‘My parents did this.’ It’s more personal with her,” Clyburn said. “I’ve talked to her, and I can tell you she is living through a lot of pain.”
But Clyburn wasn’t done. The Hill reports that Clyburn claimed to have a special appreciation for Omar’s experience after talking with Rep. Norman Mineta (D-CA), who was in an internment camp during World War II. Basically, he has a formerly interned friend, so he totally can’t be a bigot.
Further, Clyburn suggested Omar is the real victim in all this and that he would try to target a digital billboard in Pennsylvania he claimed is racist.
“She won’t be targeted. We’re going to target those people who had her picture on the Twin Towers,” Clyburn told the Hill. “This resolution is going to be inclusive; it’s going to be expansive; and I might just try to add something to deal with that billboard that’s up in Pennsylvania this morning calling John Lewis and other members of the Congressional Black Caucus racists.”
So, Omar won’t be targeted for anti-Semitic remarks, but a random guy in Pennsylvania who put up billboards will be? The billboards take shots at “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett’s alleged hate crime hoax, and calls multiple black Democrats, including Lewis and Omar, “racists.” Another billboard says “whites have rights.” The man who put up the billboards denied he was trying to be racist, saying he was trying to start a conversation that it’s not just whites who can be racist.
“Racism is misunderstood in America and I want to have the conversation,” the man told WPXI. “We need to get over: I’m black. You’re white. You’re Hispanic. Who cares? I don’t care about that. I do care about how you act and how you stand for my flag, our flag.”
Clyburn’s comments may be the most outrageous, but he is not the only one now defending Omar and anti-Semitism. Those vying for the 2020 Democrat presidential nomination have rushed to defend Omar as well.
READ MORE: ANTI-SEMITISM DEMOCRATIC PARTY ILHAN OMAR RACISM
MURDER CITY: “It Has Now Been 4 Years Since Chicago Last Logged A Day Without A Shooting And/Or Homicide”
By Nan and Byron McKeeby
Chicago ain’t the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it’s cold as hell.
It has now been 4 years since #Chicago last logged a day w/ out a shooting and/or a homicide. Since 2/28/15: 2,588 killed, 11,649 wounded.
Pathetic. On the bright side, taxes are high and the debt bomb is about to explode!
(HOOD RATS ARE HAVE TAKEN OVER CHICAGO) – Chicago Poised To Elect Its First African American Female Mayor, Send Indicted Alderman Back To Office
Chicago will elect its first African-American female mayor, after a strange, 14-candidate race came to an end Tuesday in the city primary.
Both candidates, Cook County board president Toni Preckwinkle and former Police Oversight Board chairwoman Lori Lightfoot, are considered “outside” candidates, with few attachments to Chicago’s fabled Democratic machine, but with deep ties to the city’s far left, progressive elements.
The fourteen-way race was in a dead heat until nearly the end, with polls predicting varied outcomes, none of which played out Tuesday night. Lightfoot, a relative unknown and newcomer to Chicago elections — though not to Chicago politics — was the city’s top vote-getter, commanding around 17% of the vote. Preckwinkle, a more well-known commodity, often maligned for instituting the city’s disasterous (and now repealed) “sugary drinks tax,” came in second with 16%, according to the Chicago Tribune’s official election results.
Most surprising, though, was the result for former President Barack Obama’s chief of staff Bill Daley, whose last name is on nearly every building and public park in the city. Bill Daley is a relative of long-serving mayors Richard J. and Richard M. Daley, and was expected to do well in the mayoral race.
After last night’s votes were counted, Daley didn’t even pick up traditional Democratic (and Daley) strongholds, leaving him in third, with only 15% of the vote. Those went to Jerry Joyce, who barely finished with 7%.
Both Preckwinkle and Lightfood are progressives, even by Chicago standards, and ran far to the left of current mayor Rahm Emanuel. Both had platforms that embraced an elected school board — something most mayors hesitate to do, lest the city’s education system fall fully into union control — civilian oversight of the police department, and a tax scheme designed to correct “wealth inequality” within the city.
But they both also represent a landmark achievement in diversity for the city; come April 2nd, no matter who wins the final mayoral election, Chicago will have its first African-American female mayor. Only one woman, Jane Byrne, has served in the office previously.
The vote also crossed racial lines, in one of America’s most segregated city. Both Preckwinkle and Lightfoot won big on the city’s wealthier north side, particularly among leftists who live along the lakefront in some of the city’s established middle class and upper-middle class neighborhoods.
There were no Republican contenders in the (technically) non-partisan race. Only about 10% of Chicago’s population considers itself Republican, and even those estimates are probably high.
Among Tuesday night’s victories, though, one, in particular, stood out: that of powerful 14th ward alderman Ed Burke, who commanded more than 50% of the vote despite being under active indictment by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. In January, Burke was indicted on a Federal extortion charge, and Federal agents have warned that more charges may be coming.
The south side alderman’s constituents gave him four more years to add to his nearly half-century rule, even though he is facing a potential prison sentence of 20 years or more. When asked by a Sun-Times reporter whether he’d be able to fulfill his entire term in office, Burke refused to answer.
(ANOTHER HOOD RAT LOVER) – Ellen Page Refuses to Apologize in Op-Ed After Blaming Trump, Pence for Jussie Smollett Hoax
By Justin Caruso
Actress Ellen Page addressed her role in promoting the Jussie Smollett hate hoax in an op-ed published Wednesday and refused to apologize to President Donald Trump and Vice President Pence for blaming them for the “attack.”
“The conversation around Jussie Smollett has led us all to examine hate violence and its implications and aftermath,” Ellen Page wrote in The Hollywood Reporter.
“I had no reason to doubt Jussie. My work on Gaycation — the docuseries I produced to chronicle LGBTQ+ stories from around the world — introduced me to many survivors of hate violence. I know how prevalent and pernicious it can be. If this situation was staged, it could make victims even more reluctant to report these crimes. Very real crimes.”
Page wrote:
While the media and public debate the case and await more information, we must not lose sight of the very real, endemic violence that LGBTQ+ people, people of color and other underrepresented communities face every day.
I ask you not to question our pain, not to draw into question our trauma, but to maintain, wholeheartedly, that hate violence exists. The merits of one case should not and cannot call that into question. The media coverage does not convey the reality and totality of the cruelty and danger we face. This is the story that must be told.
…
When the rhetoric we read and the hate speech we hear comes from our politicians, our media and entertainment, our neighbors and families and our religious leaders, we internalize the pain in damaging, self-defeating ways. We are wary and afraid to report hate violence. We lose hope as we continue to be victimized. The cruelty, the hate and the words manifest shame.
In the article, she fails to apologize for her role in casting blame on Donald Trump and Mike Pence for the “attack” on Empire actor Jussie Smollett, that Chicago police now believe was staged by the actor himself.
Following the hoax attack, the Juno actress appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and blamed the Trump administration for the hoax attack. Many Hollywood celebrities also blamed Trump and his supporters for the “attack.”
“The vice president of America wishes I didn’t have the love with my wife,” the 32-year-old said.
“If you are in a position of power and you hate people, and you want to cause suffering to them, you go through the trouble, you spend your career trying to cause suffering, what do you think is going to happen? Kids are going to be abused and they’re going to kill themselves, and people are going to be beaten on the street!”
Page even defended Smollett personally, saying, “We have a media that says it’s a debate that whether or not what happened to Jussie Smollett is a hate crime. It’s absurd. Its not a fucking debate.”
That interview, posted on Colbert’s YouTube page under the title, “Ellen Page Calls Out Hateful Leadership,” went viral.
CNN’s Symone Sanders in Denial over Jussie: ‘Very Concerning’ Police Leaked Smollett Was ‘Staunchly Believable’
By Tony Lee
CNN commentator Symone Sanders insisted on Thursday that things are still not adding up in the Jussie Smollett case, saying that his story was “staunchly believable” as of two days ago.
She said it is “very concerning” that the leaks all came from the Chicago Police Department and insisted that Smollett’s claim that he was attacked by two President Donald Trump supporters in near sub-zero temperatures in Chicago who were yelling “this is MAGA country” and hurling racial and homophobic slurs was “staunchly believable” as of two days days ago.
On February 19, when Sanders said she thought Smollett’s story was still “staunchly believable,” news reports had already surfaced that indicated that Smollett had paid two Nigerian-American brothers to orchestrate the attack after the the hate letter that he allegedly mailed to himself on the Empire set did not get enough attention. Celebrities such as Snoop Dogg and Dave Chappelle had already mocked Smollett for his alleged hoax while Cardi B had declared that Smollett “f*cked up Black History Month.”
“I have spoken with Jussie Smollett’s team. I’ve heard Jussie tell his account in his own words. And I want to tell you… When I had this conversation about two days ago, I believed him,” she insisted. “It was staunchly believable.”
Sanders said she only changed her mind when the video of the two Nigerian-American brothers buying ski masks and a red cap surfaced. Smollett reportedly paid the brothers $3,500 to stage the attack and gave them an additional $100 to buy supplies.
“When the video came out today of the two gentlemen buying what I’ve referred to as a hate crime starter pack, I, like everyone else, had questions,” Sanders said. “At this point, my thoughts are…. we need to see some of the evidence… I think it’s very concerning that all of these leaks came from the Chicago Police Department… So frankly all we have is leaks from the Chicago Police Department… now what they’ve said at this press conference and what Jussie Smollett and his team have said.”
Sanders insisted that “things do not add up here” and “this just doesn’t seem right” because, in reference to the $3,500 that Smollett reportedly paid to the brothers to stage the attack, “$3,500 won’t even buy a round-trip ticket to Nigeria.”
“So I, like many people in America, are confused… even though I’ve heard, I’ve seen what the police department’s said,” she said. “So at the very least I think we should see the police report.”
Sanders said Smollett has lost in the court of public opinion, adding that “this is not a good day for Jussie Smollet” and “frankly it’s a terrible day for folks who have not come forward who have experienced hate crimes and who now are maybe hesitant to come forward if something does actually happen to them because of this.”
“So it’s just not a good day,” Sanders said. “It’s still a terrible Black History Month.”
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