Jussie Smollett Charged By Special Prosecutor For Chicago Hate Hoax
Richard Moorhead
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Chicago actor Jussie Smollett was charged by a Cook County special prosecutor with six counts of disorderly conduct related to lying to the police on Tuesday. Dan Webb, a former U.S attorney appointed by Judge Michael Toomin, announced the charges as the result of a grand jury investigation.
Smollett had appeared to escape criminal repercussions for a hoax he orchestrated of January 2019, in which he paid two Nigerian brothers to play the role of Trump supporters and “attack” him in a fake racially charged event. Smollett was originally charged by prosecutors with filing a fake police report, but evaded punishment when a suspect district attorney ordered the charges dropped on the basis of Smollett’s supposed community service.
But he won’t use his ‘get out of jail free’ card after all. Webb was appointed by Judge Toomin six months ago to investigate the circumstances surrounding the suspicious dropping of Smollett’s charges. In a statement, the special prosecutor explained his decision to file new criminal charges against Smollett for his orchestration of the hoax.
““The grand jury’s investigation revealed that Jussie Smollett planned and participated in a staged hate crime attack, and thereafter made numerous false statements to Chicago Police Department officers on multiple occasions, reporting a heinous hate crime that he, in fact, knew had not occurred.”
A statement from Smollett’s lawyers in light of the new criminal charges goes to show the former Empire actor isn’t thrilled that he’s going back to court to face accountability for his dishonest publicity stunt.
Smollett is set to appear in a Cook County courthouse on February 24th.
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