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Jussie Smollett Found Guilty on 5 of 6 Counts
A Chicago jury has found Jussie Smollett guilty of the first five counts of disorderly conduct for making false reports to police that he was a victim of a hate crime in early 2019. He was found not guilty on the sixth and final charge.
Nearly three years ago, the “Empire” actor reported that he was attacked by two white men who called him racist and anti-gay slurs, put a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him, all while shouting, “This is MAGA country.” Smollett claimed it occurred while he was out visiting Subway in the wee hours of the morning during a freezing winter polar vortex.
Despite the story being ludicrous on its face, leading Democrat politicians, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, immediately believed Smollett’s bizarre tale, as did many leading celebrities and progressive activists. Local media soon pulled apart the fabricated story while powerful Chicago pols tried to prevent his prosecution.
What happened today to @JussieSmollett must never be tolerated in this country. We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie. https://t.co/o8ilPu68CM
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) January 30, 2019
.@JussieSmollett is one of the kindest, most gentle human beings I know. I’m praying for his quick recovery.
This was an attempted modern day lynching. No one should have to fear for their life because of their sexuality or color of their skin. We must confront this hate.
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) January 29, 2019
A disorderly conduct charge for a false crime report is a Class 4 felony and punishable by up to three years in prison and a $25,000 fine. Cook County Judge James Linn will rule on sentencing at a later date.
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Let’s put up a statue of him at the Obama Presidential complex. Clorox might be willing to be a corporate sponsor.
Officer Friendly’s advice is; It is never a good idea to involve the police in a hoax.
No, no! It was all a nefarious plot by the Osundairo brothers to … umm … to …
Yeah, I’ve got nothing.
Couldn’t be happening to a nicer guy.
He gets a slap on the wrist and goes off to a new career in Hollyweird.
It has been speculated that the sentence will be light because no one was hurt by this crime.
I disagree. I busted a gut laughing at the details of the “attack” when they were made public.
Just another case of the demand for hate crimes outstripping the supply.
What great news! I am delighted. The jury system has been working pretty well recently.
Standing by for riots. Too cold, but forewarned is five-armed.
Thank you @exjon.
You mean, for those of us who care about such things?
But I thought you just told me the other day that I was supposed to set up GoFundMe accounts, in lieu of a justice system, if I was one of those who care about such things.
Because you are an officer of the court, I thought I could count on that advice being authoritative.
Originally I was skeptical that he would be convicted of anything, but after seeing his “performance” on the witness stand I was pretty sure even someone on the jury sympathetic to BLM would vote to convict. One would think an actor could summon the skill needed to seem sympathetic but it almost looks like he insisted his lawyers put him on the stand and then proceeded to come across as the most entitled jerk imaginable. My middle schooler is more convincing.
Yeah. At first, I was ambivalent. But at the moment that Jussie SMOLL-ett became Jussie smoll-ETT, I knew. Because I have a maiden name that might (if I’d let it) have worked that way.
And because, being from Pittsburgh, my example was one Tony DOR-sett. Six months older than I, and pronounced like the English county. Or the sheep breed.
Until he became famous. And until he suddenly said (out of nowhere) that his name was correctly pronounced Tony dor-SETT, sometime around the time he fetched up with the Dallas Cryboys. (Did I mention I’m from Pittsburgh?)
LOL
Around that time (the late 1970s or so), the equivalent of a social media meme began to circulate in the SWPA/WV/OH tri-state area. God knows how, because it was well before social media made such things inevitable. Nevertheless, I remember at least the punchline very well.
It was in the form of an agricultural joke regarding turtles and rabbits. Somewhere along the way, Mister tur-TELL went down to the WELL And the ultimate punchline was along the lines of “Mister ra-BITT” is out in the “[RHYMING EXPLETIVE.]”
I hope Mister Smoll-ETT is hit in the wall-ETTE and goes away for a coon’s age. Yeah. A website (something as stodgy as “thesaurus.com”) tells me that this is an acceptable synonym for a “long time.”
Is it–somehow–not?
Dave Chappell convicted this fool years ago. “We all knew that CLEARLY this [fella] was LYING.”
I am appalled and optimistic to think that this may have helped.
Now comes the “light slap on the wrist because you’re a celebrity and a Democrat” phase.
That bit was and is hilarious.
The following is not CoC-compliant. You have been warned.
West Hollywood going to become an inferno?
Like Stefan Urquelle. – Cool genes.
Thank you. It’s great to see again.
Probably, but Andrew McCarthy made a good point on NRO: Smollette committed perjury in open court. Judges don’t like when a defendant commits perjury in their courtroom. McCarthy thinks (and I agree) that will prod the judge to give a harsher sentence than he might have been initially thought “appropriate.”
Ordinary folks can reach reasonable conclusions if they can hear both sides of an issue argued as convincingly as possible and have to listen. Remove folks, almost any of us, so we have to base opinions remotely on abstractions seldom with real facts about the real happenings, and we get wild but necessary divisions.
Good. Now it’s time to charge him with I don’t know how many perjury charges.
I think that you missed my point. Folks were upset about the “plight” of rioters who had tried to steal an election, and were complaining about those poor defendants having inadequate public defenders. I am generally unmoved, for fear that if the rioters are not sufficiently punished, then Trump’s attempted steal would be a “training exercise” for the second time he tries to steal an election. So, if someone is really upset at the plight of the people being held, then I suggested that they should start a go fund me campaign. But seriously, I think that the jury system worked in the third jury trial in a row.
Gary,
First, I was truly shocked by your “Go Fund Me” comment. I have always come to your defense when you’ve been abused by a mob here on Ricochet for simply expressing your opinions.
But that comment seemed totally out-of-character for you. I expect an attorney to be the last American to forget that every person who is placed under arrest, no matter how unpopular he may be based on media reports and inflammatory political rhetoric, is entitled to due process in this country.
When I saw that you were replying to my criticism, I was hopeful that you would clarify your position and correct some misperception of mine, some way I had misjudged your conduct.
Instead you merely doubled down with the typical mob mentality–“I know they are all guilty, and no mistreatment, no abuse of due process, is too unjust or too cruel for them.” You add this equally contemptible justification: even if they are not all guilty after being tried in the court of public opinion, we need to make an example of them because of the catastrophe that, in my imagination, will occur otherwise. Your imagination–that we are on the brink of a coup by this disorganized (except by a team of hapless FBI provocateurs), bunch of a hundred or so unarmed protesters, led by a shirtless man wearing horns and doing rain-dances or something–is fevered, if that matters, which it doesn’t.
Smollet, guys. Smollet.
I hope they send him somewhere the next noose he fashions will be of his own pathetic child-like chest-hair.
I was being sarcastic. Sorry. Of course they have the right to an attorney. One point that I made was that Sidney Powell had raised $14 million for her scam, and that some of that money should be used for legal support of the defendants. Trump has raised tens of millions of dollars; I think that he could spare some of it for the 1/6 defendants. On the other hand, I think that the Republican Members of the House who voted for Trump’s impeachment have been unfairly attacked, and I have contributed to their campaigns.
On the other hand, if you want to personally contribute to the January 6th defendants, you can do so by going to https://www.patriotfreedomproject.com/the-16ers. (It also has a great recording of “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield.)
On the second point, we are seeing Trump endorsing Secretaries of State in AZ, GA and elsewhere who say that they wouldn’t have certified Biden’s victory. That is very, very concerning. Arizona’s GOP has gone over the deep end too. Yes, I am afraid of a coup in 2024. See this frightening article in The Atlantic: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/01/january-6-insurrection-trump-coup-2024-election/620843/. I am frightened for the future of our country and our party.
A frightening article in The Atlantic? Oh, my stars and garters!
Stop reading that trash. What you allow in your head will eventually come out of your mouth.
Those of us in Chicagoland knew this was a crock from the get go. There are no MAGA hat wearers anywhere within a good 75 miles, it was literally 20 below zero, and the tuna salad sandwich was intact. It stunk then and it stinks now. I am, however, quite surprised at the verdict. Maybe we’re not totally corrupt around here.
Good! I hope they throw the book at him… Which I imagine the judge is quite inclined to do.
You don’t know how.
Biden said, “We are with you.”
I hope he meant it. I suppose he could have a separate cell, though. And maybe Hunter could sell another painting to help pay the fine.