• Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact
No Result
View All Result
Law Officer
Law Officer
No Result
View All Result

Jussie Smollett’s trial set to begin

The actor has become a national punch line

Jussie Smollett

Jussie Smollett's trial begins Monday. (Screenshot USA Today)

November 28, 2021
Law OfficerbyLaw Officer
Share and speak up for justice, law & order...

CHICAGO — Nearly three years after the drama surrounding Jussie Smollett’s claim that he was victimized by racist haters, the actor is going to trial for reportedly concocting the hoax. His legal proceedings begin on Monday.

Smollett was charged with felony disorderly conduct after detectives and prosecutors said he not only lied to police about the alleged crime, but created and choreographed the early morning action of Jan. 29, 2019, in downtown Chicago. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday, USA Today reported.

In a statement to police, Smollett claimed he was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at 2 a.m. when suddenly, two men he said recognized him from the TV show “Empire,” began hurling racial and homophobic slurs at him.

Next, he maintained the alleged suspects struck him, looped a makeshift noose around his neck and shouted, “This is MAGA country,” a reference to then-President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Jussie Smollett
Jussie Smollett (Screenshot USA Today)

After weeks of investigation, Smollett was charged with staging the attack. The motive was reportedly to further his career and secure a higher salary.

Chicago police said the actor hired two brothers from Nigeria and paid them $3,500 to pretend to attack him during the staged hoax.

The crime allegations fueled ongoing race tensions in the country.

Consequently, Smollett was vilified as someone willing to use one of the most potent symbols of racism in the U.S. — a noose — to further his career.

“The most vile and despicable part of it, if it’s true, is the noose,” Judge John Fitzgerald Lyke Jr., who is black, said during Smollett’s first court appearance. “That symbol conjures up such evil in this country’s history.”

Furthermore, Smollett became a national punch line as investigative details were discovered, convincing most of America that the situation was nothing more than a disturbing performance. The disgraced actor was the subject of a “Saturday Night Live” skit and a host of black celebrities, from NBA analyst Charles Barkley to comedian Dave Chappelle, who took turns poking fun at him, USA Today reported.

Jussie Smollett
Jussie Smollett (Screenshot USA Today)

So now the stage is set. After nearly three years, the evidence will move from news stories and editorials to the courtroom.

Key witnesses will include Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo. They are the brothers who say Smollett wrote them a check to stage the attack. They are expected to testify that Smollett was the director and star performer of a fabricated drama in view of a surveillance camera that he mistakenly believed would record the entire event.

The brothers will also describe how Smollett drove them to the spot where the incident was to play out for a “dress rehearsal,” according to Gloria Rodriguez, a lawyer who represents the men.

“He was telling them ‘Here’s a camera, there’s a camera and here’s where you are going to run away,’” Rodriguez said, according to the news outlet.

Disorderly conduct, a class 4 felony, carries a sentence of up to three years in prison. However, even if convicted, that is unlikely. Experts have said it is more likely that Smollett would be placed on probation and perhaps ordered to perform community service if the jury finds him guilty.


Share and speak up for justice, law & order...
Tags: ChicagohoaxJussie Smollett
Law Officer

Law Officer

Law Officer is the only major law enforcement publication and website owned and operated by law enforcement—for law enforcement and supporters of justice, law, and order. This unique facet makes Law Officer much more than just a publishing company, but a true advocate for the law enforcement profession.

Related Posts

Cheyann Klus

Remains of missing Illinois woman found more than five years after she vanished

January 18, 2023
Isaiah Renteria

New Public Service Announcement Advocates an End to Bail for Violent Criminals

October 25, 2022
Absalom Coakley

Chicago man out on low bond for attempted murder charged with killing two people at party

October 7, 2022
Lori Lightfoot

Chicago mayor grossly out of touch with reality

October 7, 2022
10th District

Chicago police shoot armed person inside lobby at 10th District station

October 5, 2022
Rakim Stephen Tate

Armed robbery suspect ‘from Chicago’ learns he’s in Florida as clerk has gun of his own

September 27, 2022
Load More

Latest Articles

John Michael Musbach

New Jersey man pleads guilty to hiring hitman to murder 14-year-old witness in child porn case

February 5, 2023
South Carolina deputies

South Carolina deputies fatally shoot suspect after he stabbed police K9 during service of arrest warrant

February 5, 2023
Noah David Beard

Gang members with ‘cartel affiliations’ arrested in massacre of 6 at California home

February 5, 2023

Courageous Nobility

February 5, 2023
Petlyn Job

Retired NYPD officer dies in apparent murder-suicide while ‘living my best life’

February 5, 2023

Why Cops “Shoot to Kill”?

February 5, 2023
Load More

Weekly E-Newsletter

Subscribe—and get the latest news and editorials direct from Law Officer each week!

[newsletter_form type="minimal"]

JOIN THE FIGHT

BE COURAGEOUS

FIND MORE…

Law Officer

© 2021 LawOfficer.com

LawOfficer.com

  • Home
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy Policy
  • Corrections
  • Contact

Speak up for justice, law & order

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • About
    • Authors
  • Articles
    • Archives
    • Chaplain
    • Crime & Controversy
    • Community
    • Cop Humor
    • Editorial
    • Op-ed
    • Gear & Technology
    • Investigations
    • Laws & Legal
    • Leadership
    • News
    • Officer Down
    • On Duty
    • Tactics
  • Network
    • Illinois Network
    • Minneapolis Network
    • Tulsa Network
    • Wauwatosa Network
    • Learn more
  • Training
  • Officer Privacy
  • Jobs
  • Contact

© 2021 LawOfficer.com