Media Claim Two MAGA Fans Attacked Actor. Here Is The Full Story.

[Godfather]

Guilty on all charges

That's great, now the people that did this to Jussie have been rightfully convicted!

[lost in melb.]

Guilty on all charges

One of them is a felony. I predict a hand slap though.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Gabrielle Fonrouge and Mark Lungariello - New York Post




CHICAGO – Jussie Smollett is “100 percent confident” he will be cleared by an appeals court on charges he staged a hate crime, his attorney proclaimed Thursday.

The comments came shortly after a Chicago criminal court jury delivered a guilty verdict against the ex-“Empire” actor, who had claimed he was attacked in 2019 by two Donald Trump supporters who tied a noose around his neck and splashed bleach on him while hurling racist and anti-gay slurs.

“We feel 100 percent confident that this case will be won on appeal,” Nenye Uche, lead attorney for the defense, said. “Unfortunately, that’s not the route we wanted but sometimes that’s the route you have to take to win, especially a case where we remain 100 percent confident in our client’s innocence.”

Smollett was found guilty on five of six felony charges of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.

“He’s a human being, he’s disappointed — but I will tell you this I am very proud of him, I’m very, very proud of him,” Uche said. “He’s holding up very strong he’s committed to clearing his name and he’s 100 percent confident that he’s going to get cleared by the appellate court.”

Smollett, 39, was accused of staging the Jan. 29, 2019 attack with brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to garner attention amid heightened racial tensions in the country. Smollett, who is black and openly gay, contended he was a real victim of a hate crime.

Prosecutors said Smollett paid the Osundairos $3,500 for the attack and planned out every aspect of the hoax, down to the specific homophobic and racial slurs he wanted the brothers to use and how hard they should throw their punches.







The defense tried to poke holes in the brothers’ credibility and Smollett testified he had paid $3,500 to Abimbola for personal training services, nothing else. In the hours before the attack, Smollett admitted he sent four texts about a delayed flight to Abimbola but testified it was because the two planned to work out together that night, dying he was coordinating with him ahead of the ruse.

Uche called Smollett’s conviction inconsistent because he was found not guilty on only one of the six counts against him, stemming from allegedly lying to police in a second interview in February 2019 — weeks after his initial complaint. The other charges he was convicted on were related to lies he made during his initial interviews with police on the day of the attack.



“Jussie was not accused of doing two different things and he was accused of doing one thing, and charged multiple times for the same incident, a jury cannot come out and say guilty of lying, but not guilty of lying,” Uche said. “It doesn’t make sense.

The attorney lamented the scrutiny on the case from its start and how it may have affected the outcome.

“From the first day of this case, his case has been prejudged, his case has been tried in the media, and it’s unfortunate, this is the United States of America,” Uche said. “We live in a constitutional democracy where everyone is presumed innocent but obviously, if we’re being honest, that hasn’t been the case.”

“But we are confident in our appellate system, we’re confident in our Illinois Supreme Court and we’re confident that at the end of the day, what’s out there in the news media, and in the gossip forums are not going to stand a chance in court.”

[Teh One Who Knocks]

[Teh One Who Knocks]

One of them is a felony. I predict a hand slap though.

All 5 charges he was convicted on were felonies from what I've read.

[lost in melb.]

All 5 charges he was convicted on were felonies from what I've read.

Do you think he'll get any clink time for this devious hate crime?

[Muddy]

Do you think he'll get any clink time for this devious hate crime?

He'd love it in there.. Not sure if it's a good idea..

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Associated Press




The only Black juror on the panel that convicted Jussie Smollett of lying to Chicago police said he couldn't get past what the actor did not do after he claimed attackers looped a noose around his neck: Rip it off and keep it off.

If others saw the noose as Smollett's clumsy effort to portray his attackers as racist, Andre Hope saw much more.

"As an African American person, I'm not putting that noose back on at all," Andre Hope told WLS-TV. At trial, Smollett testified that after the attack in downtown Chicago in January 2019, he returned home and put the rope back around his neck so police who came to his apartment soon after could see it.

Hope was not the only Black person who struggled with Smollett's use of such a potent symbol of racism in the U.S. to convince authorities he was the victim of a hate crime.

In an interview with NewsNation Now after Smollett was found guilty last Thursday, Eddie Johnson — who was Chicago police superintendent in January 2019 when Smollett said he was attacked — said virtually the same thing.

"I was concerned because I don’t think there’s many Black people in America with a noose around their neck and wouldn’t immediately take it off," Johnson said.

Hope said the evidence against Smollett was overwhelming. At trial, two brothers testified that Smollett recruited them to carry out the fake attack. Hope said the counter narrative put forth by Smollett's attorneys that the pair had actually planned the attack on Smollett did not make sense.

"When you just use your common sense as what’s there, yeah it just, it didn’t add up," said Hope a 63-year-old father of two who lives in suburban Bellwood, west of Chicago.

Hope listened to prosecutors argue Smollett staged the hoax because he was angry that the studio where he filmed the television program "Empire" did not take hate mail he received seriously. But after all the evidence was presented, after all the witnesses testified, Hope still has one big question.

"I still have not figured out a motive for why he did, why this had to even happen," Hope said. "He was a star."

Smollett faces up to three years in prison when he returns to court next year for sentencing. But experts have said it is far more likely that he will be placed on probation and ordered to perform community service.

That would be fine with Hope, who thinks Smollett does not deserve to go to prison. And, he said, he hopes the actor — who testified that he has lost his livelihood — would be given a chance to resume his career.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By David Aaro | Fox News




Actor Jussie Smollett loudly declared himself "innocent" in a Chicago courtroom Thursday after he was sentenced to 150 days in jail for lying to police in a staged hate crime.

Smollett was sentenced by Cook County Judge James Linn to 30 months of felony probation and 150 days in the county jail. Linn ordered Smollett to be immediately placed in custody.

"I am innocent. I could have said I was guilty a long time ago," Smollett yelled as sheriff’s deputies led him out of the courtroom following his sentencing for lying about the 2019 racist and homophobic attack, which he orchestrated himself.

"I'm not suicidal!" Smollett also screamed as he was taken into custody.

The former "Empire" actor was sentenced after his attorneys read aloud letters from Progressive groups that asked for mercy for Smollett.

Those pushing for leniency in the case included an organizer with Black Lives Matter, Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH Coalition, as well as LaTanya and Samuel L. Jackson.

They urged the judge to consider how the case had impacted Smollett’s life, and career and hoped Smollett would avoid any confinement as part of his sentence.

Other supporters claimed that Smollett, who is Black and gay, would be at risk in prison. They mentioned his race, sexual orientation, and his family’s Jewish heritage.

Smollett was convicted in December of staging the hate crime and lying to cops. He was found guilty on five out of six charges at his hate crime hoax trial and faced a maximum sentence of three years in prison for each of his five felony conviction counts.



Prior to his sentencing, special prosecutor Dan Webb asked Linn to include "an appropriate amount of prison time."

Webb also asked that Smollett be ordered to pay $130,000 in restitution to the city of Chicago. Smollett was ultimately ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution.



Smollett was charged with six counts of disorderly conduct related to false statements to Chicago police officers about a 2019 hate crime against him. In 2019, he claimed that two men attacked him due to his skin color and sexual orientation.

"I do believe at the end of the day that Mr. Smollett received a fair trial," Linn said Thursday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Gabrielle Fonrouge and Mark Lungariello - New York Post




Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot slammed Jussie Smollett Thursday and said the former “Empire” actor’s sentence for faking a hate crime should send a message to others who’d make bogus claims.

“The criminal conviction of Jussie Smollett by a jury of his peers and today’s sentencing should send a clear message to everyone in the City of Chicago that false claims and allegations will not be tolerated,” Lightfoot said in a statement after Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail by a Chicago judge.

“The malicious and wholly fabricated claim made by Mr. Smollett resulted in over 1500 hours of police work that cost the City over $130,000 in police overtime,” she went on. “The City feels vindicated in today’s ruling that he is being held accountable and that we will appropriately receive restitution for his actions.”

A judge sentenced Smollett to 30 months of probation, including five months in jail, and also ordered the actor to pay Chicago $120,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.

Smollett was convicted of staging an attack on Jan. 29, 2019 where he claimed two Donald Trump-lovng men put a noose around his neck, splashed him with bleach and hurled racist and homophobic slurs at the actor, who is black and gay.

When Judge James Linn issued Smollett’s sentence on Thursday, the actor blew up in the court and screamed out “I’m innocent!”

“If I did this, then it means that I shoved my fist in the fears of black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBTQ community,” Smollett shouted.

“Your honor, I respect you and I respect your decision, but I did not do this and I am not suicidal. If anything happens to me when I go in there, I did not do it to myself, and you must all know that.”

[lost in melb.]

Boy does the judge slam him

[Muddy]

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By the TMZ Staff




Jussie Smollett believes there's one overarching reason he was sent to jail, and it's not because of the hoax ... he says it's because he's Black.

Sources with direct knowledge and in constant touch with the "Empire" actor tell TMZ ... Jussie fully expected to get jail time. He told his defense team before sentencing he felt he would be treated more harshly than other defendants convicted of a non-violent crime ... all because of the color of his skin. He thinks it's more evidence of systemic racism in the judicial system.

Jussie told his team after sentencing he was dead-on when he predicted the outcome ... based on the animosity the judge showed toward him. He called it "unfortunate" and "sad."

As you know, the judge read Jussie the riot act, saying the hoax was rooted in a desire for more fame and more attention.

We reached out to the court for comment, and a rep for the Cook County Chief Judge's Office tells TMZ ... "Judges can't comment on pending cases, and it's still pending."



As we reported...Jussie will be held in protective custody -- as requested -- while serving his time behind bars, with security cameras and an officer with a body-worn camera monitoring his cell.

Our sources say Jussie spoke out in court about not being suicidal because he wanted to make it clear to the public that if something were to happen to him in jail, it was foul play ... and our sources referenced the Jeffrey Epstein outcome, and that was what was on Jussie's mind when he made the comment.



Jussie was taken into custody following Thursday's sentencing, and we're told he spoke with his defense team Friday ... telling them he's OK and filled with hope.

[lost in melb.]

No. If anything you got a more lenient sentence because you're a fucking douche-bag you're a celebrity and it's in the public interest not to unduly aggravate your racist base.

[DemonGeminiX]