He went on to say that he was dumbfounded by what police alleged had played out. I know how hard it's been for our city and our nation to come together, and I also know the disparities, and I know the history." "I know the racial divide that exists here. "This morning I come to you not only as the Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department but also as a black man who spent his entire life living in the city of Chicago," Superintendent Johnson said.
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He went on to say he was offended and angered by what police alleged was a publicity stunt in which Smollett orchestrated a phoney hate crime because he was dissatisfied with his salary on the TV show Empire. "As I look out into the crowd, I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention, because that's who really deserves the amount of attention that we're giving to this particular incident."Īnd so began the briefing in February 2019, as Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson addressed the media about Smollett's arrest.Ĭhicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks about the Jussie Smollett case at a news conference. Smollett was charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report about the alleged attack. The investigation shifted, with investigators saying Smollett paid the two brothers $US3,500 ($4,880) to stage the attack because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted publicity. They later picked up two Nigerian brothers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after they learned at least one worked on Empire. Smollett, who is black and gay, said the attackers yelled racist and homophobic slurs, wrapped a rope around his neck, and poured an "unknown substance" on him, which he believed to be bleach.Ĭelebrities and politicians weighed in, many rushing to his defence and expressing outrage, until police, who said they had reviewed hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage, said none showed the attack. The actor told police the attackers yelled "This is MAGA country", in reference to the then-president Donald Trump's "Make America Great Again" campaign slogan. When Jussie Smollett told police he had been attacked by two men in downtown Chicago at 2am, the story attracted international headlines.
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He was acquitted on a sixth count, of lying to a detective in mid-February, weeks after he said he was attacked. The jury found the 39-year-old guilty on five counts of disorderly conduct - one count for each separate time he was charged with lying to police in the days immediately after the alleged attack. They said Smollett orchestrated the hoax, telling them to put a noose around his neck and bash him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs, and that he said he wanted video of the incident made public via social media. Two brothers testified that Smollett recruited them to fake the attack near his home in downtown Chicago in January 2019. Former Empire actor Jussie Smollett has been found guilty of orchestrating a fake attack on himself, then lying to Chicago police about it.