Three years ago, Jussie Smollett, a largely unknown, black homosexual actor, claimed that two whites attacked him at 2:00 a.m. in downtown Chicago. The whites were, of course, supporters of President Trump. Downtown Chicago at 2:00 a.m. is “MAGA country,” they told him.
The hate-Trump radical Left fumed and spewed. Look at what electing Trump the Hater has done, they raged. It’s open season on gays and blacks, they cried. It’s Orange Man Bad’s fault, they yammered.
Except that Smollett lied. He paid two Nigerians to attack him, hang a noose around his neck, and douse with what was thought to be bleach.
Yesterday, a Cook County Criminal Court judge sentenced Smollett to five months in jail and 30 months probation for staging the most famous and outrageous hate hoax yet revealed.
The Hoax
Although he appeared on an all-black Fox television program called Empire, few Americans knew who Smollett was before January 29, 2019. He earned upwards of $100,000 an episode but wanted a pay raise.
One way to get it: Stage a hate hoax, get famous, and the money will roll in. Smollett picked up the idea for the attack, TMZ reported at the time, from his director, Lee Daniels, who had denounced a “homophobic” attack on his homosexual cousin. Thus did the elaborate plan begin.
About a week before the “attack,” Smollett supposedly received a hate letter from Trump supporters with the threatening return address MAGA — Make America Great Again. Inside an envelope containing a white powder found to be acetaminophen, the generic name for Tylenol, was a terrifying threat in cut-out, ransom-note letters: “You will die black f*g.”
On January 29, Smollett claimed two whites attacked him as he returned from a 2:00 a.m. munchies run to Subway.
“This is MAGA country,” they snarled. “Aren’t you that Empire faggot, n****r!?” They beat him, he claimed, doused him with bleach, and wrapped a noose around his neck.
Immediately, the nation collapsed in a moral conniption. It was the Evil Trump’s fault, although Orange Man Bad himself denounced the attack. The usual Twitter lynch mob mounted to ride. They would hang the “hate crime” on Trump and his supporters. Leftist celebrities and politicians sputtered the usual imprecations.
But then the gumshoes in Chicago’s police department viewed video from 55 private and police surveillance cameras in the area, and eventually found the two Nigerians who said Smollett paid them $3,500 to stage the attack. He promised another $500 afterward. Cops had the canceled check, along with video that showed the brothers purchasing their hate-hoax supplies.
The city sued him for $130,000 to recover the overtime paid to police.
Found Guilty and Sentenced
In March 2019, a grand jury indicted him on 16 felony counts of false reports to police, charges the Cook County prosecutor eventually dropped.
That led to the appointment of a special prosecutor and grand jury and led to six felony charges. A jury convicted Smollett on five charges in December.
“You wanted to make yourself more famous,” Judge James Linn said as he sentenced Smollett after a six-hour hearing. “And for a while it worked. The lights were on you. You were actually throwing a national pity party for yourself.”
Smollett lied “for hours upon hours” at his trial, Linn said. He ignored the pathetic pleas from Smollett’s character witnesses and not only sent him to jail but also ordered him to pay $130,000 in restitution to the city to cover the wasted overtime pay.
Smollett lied again during sentencing when he claimed innocence.
Linn refused to stay Smollett’s sentence until his lawyers appealed the case which they promised to do.
“No,” Linn said. “I’m not staying it. No, no, no. The wheels of justice turn slowly. Sometimes, the hammer just has to fall, and it’s falling right here, right now.”
Smollet exited the courtroom repeating what he said when Linn asked whether he had any questions. “I am not suicidal,” he shouted. “I am not suicidal. And I am innocent.”
Judge and jury did not agree.
