[Page Six] Jussie Smollett on Tuesday was once again indicted for allegedly staging a hate-crime attack against himself ‐ nearly a year after charges in the case were abruptly dropped.Special prosecutor Dan Webb announced the six-count indictment for disorderly conduct, accusing the former "Empire" star of lying to the Chicago Police Department about the alleged January 2019 attack.
Webb’s investigation revealed that Smollett "planned and participated in a staged crime attack," and then "made numerous false statements ... reporting a heinous hate crime that he, in fact, knew had not occurred," Webb said in news release.
The 37-year-old actor, who is black and gay, told cops that he was jumped by two men who shouted racist and homophobic slurs ‐ as well as, "This is MAGA country!" ‐ at him, in an attack that involved bleach and a noose.
Police ultimately determined that Smollett made the whole thing up to advance his career, and paid two brothers $3,500 to stage the attack, leading to a 16-count felony indictment against him for filing a false police report.
But in March 2019, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx abruptly dropped all charges against Smollett, and he was let off the hook after forfeiting to the city the $10,000 he had coughed up for bail and performing community service.
Webb was appointed in August by Judge Michael Toomin to re-examine the case against Smollett and look into why the charges were dropped.
Webb said he found no new evidence in the case ‐ but determined that the charges should never have been dropped in the first place, so revived them "in the interest of justice."
"Several factors went into this determination, including the extensive nature of Mr. Smollett’s false police reports and the resources expended by [cops] to investigate these false reports," Webb said.
In dropping the charges, the State’s Attorney’s office had said Smollett’s case was subject to the same barometer that would be applied to any defendant under similar circumstances.
But Webb said prosecutors were unable to provide evidence that the dismissal relied on what had occured in similar, prior cases,.
Webb’s office has "reached no conclusions" about whether any officials involved in the case had engaged in wrongdoing and that part of the investigation is ongoing, he said.
Smollett’s arraignment is scheduled for Feb. 24.
| Courtesy of Bright Pebbles, the Daily Mail article on the subject has photos and videos. |