IL - Actor Jussie Smollett allegedly attacked in hate crime being black & gay Jan 2019 *ARRESTS*

[CocoChanel]

AJ Guglielmi on Twitter:
Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate.
Anthony Guglielmi on Twitter

Oh dear.
ABC7Chicago better not have jumped the gun on this.
Hope their sources are solid even if CPD not ready to confirm yet.
Yikes!

 

[coffeeandacig]

AJ Guglielmi on Twitter:
Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate.
Anthony Guglielmi on Twitter

Superintendent Eddie Johnson, must be pissed that informants leaked before Friday (news dump day)...

 

[MassGuy]

This was suspicious from the beginning, and today’s developments certainly ring true.

I don’t want to jump the gun and conclude that this was absolutely staged, although it appears overwhelmingly evident that it was.

It fit a perfect narrative; too perfect.

The evidence in no way supported his account, and my fear was that law enforcement would never get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

It certainly appears that they are close.

I hope that everyone involved faces strong legal repercussions, and the media that has pushed this seemingly false narrative from the beginning, provides equal coverage to the truth.

Whatever it is.

 

[Tim Callahan]

Oh dear.
ABC7Chicago better not have jumped the gun on this.
Hope their sources are solid even if CPD not ready to confirm yet.
Yikes!

I’d say that unless the pics of the busted door and the evidence report are fake, their sources are indeed solid.

 

[Wagtales10]

Chicago PD Slams “Inaccurate” Reports That Jussie Smollett Attack Was Staged

In a statement online this afternoon the official spokesman for the Windy City cops offered an update on their ongoing investigation to the seemingly racial and homophobic assault on the Empire star on January 29 and a stern rebuke to local media.
"Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted "@ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate."

Hope they catch those racist deplorables

 

[mickey2942]

Not to mention it is so disrespectful to past victims (i.e. Matthew Shepherd)! How could he??

Mr. Smollett should go on 20/20 to explain why he did something this so senseless. He has no shame or conscience.

Shrug. He doesn't care, no consequences of staging a fake hate crime.

 

[anonypotomous]

Oh dear.
ABC7Chicago better not have jumped the gun on this.
Hope their sources are solid even if CPD not ready to confirm yet.
Yikes!

I can’t imagine them posting something like this without super solid evidence. I guess it could happen, but this is a high profile case with a ton of ramifications in so many directions. Political, LGBTQ, race, celebrity, etc.. It would be a massive professional failure.

 

[otto]

This was suspicious from the beginning, and today’s developments certainly ring true.

I don’t want to jump the gun and conclude that this was absolutely staged, although it appears overwhelmingly evident that it was.

It fit a perfect narrative; too perfect.

The evidence in no way supported his account, and my fear was that law enforcement would never get to the bottom of this, one way or another.

It certainly appears that they are close.

I hope that everyone involved faces strong legal repercussions, and the media that has pushed this seemingly false narrative from the beginning, provides equal coverage to the truth.

Whatever it is.

Regarding the point of equal coverage, I agree. I would like to see something about mental illness and persecution complex : who and why.

 

[Axiom88]

This is so ridiculous one way or another. There's so many political interests at play, which is dumb. All that needs to be pursued is the truth of the matter. If the dude was attacked, then find who did it and everyone should want to bring them to justice. If it was faked, then he needs to be brought to justice, and re-pay all the costs involved.

But unfortunately, a lot of people are letting their politics take this story "as fact" one direction or another. Frustrating.

 

[Wagtales10]

Chicago PD slammed the report it was staged. The end. He's still a victim. LE said so.

Wow the hate here is sickening.

 

[Wagtales10]

This is so ridiculous one way or another. There's so many political interests at play, which is dumb. All that needs to be pursued is the truth of the matter. If the dude was attacked, then find who did it and everyone should want to bring them to justice. If it was faked, then he needs to be brought to justice, and re-pay all the costs involved.

But unfortunately, a lot of people are letting their politics take this story "as fact" one direction or another. Frustrating.

Sad isnt it? This is a victim friendly site.

 

[Poppyflower]

Is Jussie still considered a "victim" here on WS?

He never was treated that way on WS.

 

[Wagtales10]

He never was treated that way on WS.

amen

 

[MassGuy]

This is so ridiculous one way or another. There's so many political interests at play, which is dumb. All that needs to be pursued is the truth of the matter. If the dude was attacked, then find who did it and everyone should want to bring them to justice. If it was faked, then he needs to be brought to justice, and re-pay all the costs involved.

But unfortunately, a lot of people are letting their politics take this story "as fact" one direction or another. Frustrating.

I tend to agree with you. There is an element that wants this to be true, and an element who wants this to be false.

One way or another, no one should be celebrating.

My annoyance came at the politicization of a bizarre story. One that didn’t ring true.

I hate it when a narrative is pushed without facts, no matter who is pushing it.

Let’s see what happens.

 

[glamourkitty1922]

Hmmm, so the two people he identified as his attackers are people he knows and worked with? How odd. I wonder how that will be explained? How can it be a hate crime if his associates did the assault? It doesn't seem that they are co-operating with the police, so it may be a while before we get the dirt. How does it fit in with the strange "threatening note" he received? Was this a fight over a part?

 

[otto]

This is so ridiculous one way or another. There's so many political interests at play, which is dumb. All that needs to be pursued is the truth of the matter. If the dude was attacked, then find who did it and everyone should want to bring them to justice. If it was faked, then he needs to be brought to justice, and re-pay all the costs involved.

But unfortunately, a lot of people are letting their politics take this story "as fact" one direction or another. Frustrating.

I'm curious what you mean by politics. It appears that a young man alleged that he was attacked and that he provided some speculation for the alleged attack. Since then, there has been confusion regarding who, why, when, and what happened. Today, it appears that the alleged attack might have been imagined. Doesn't that suggest that the man with the imagined attack should be provided mental health assistance?

 

[CrimeDawg123]

Rob Elgas ABC7 Chicago:
NEW: Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson called @ABC7Chicago tonight to say Jussie Smollett is considered a victim and the police investigation is on-going.
Rob Elgas on Twitter

UPDATE: Representatives for Jussie Smollett say “Today Jussie did answer routine followup questions for Chicago Police Department and continues to cooperate.”
Rob Elgas on Twitter

 

[Wagtales10]

I'm curious what you mean by politics. It appears that a young man alleged that he was attacked and that he provided some speculation for the alleged attack. Since then, there has been confusion regarding who, why, when, and what happened. Today, it appears that the alleged attack might have been imagined. Doesn't that suggest that the man with the imagined attack should be provided mental health assistance?

False. Chicago PD has slammed any report of them calling it a staged attack.

 

[Axiom88]

I tend to agree with you. There is an element that wants this to be true, and an element who wants this to be false.

One way or another, no one should be celebrating.

My annoyance came at the politicization of a bizarre story. One that didn’t ring true.

I hate it when a narrative is pushed without facts, no matter who is pushing it.

Let’s see what happens.

This is basically how I feel. No matter what the truth turns out to be, both are reflective of a really, really sad sad state of where we are as citizens. Both outcomes are really sad, and no one is really focused on that. Instead, simply politically positioning themselves to be "correct" dependent on whichever side the truth falls into.

 

[TTF14]

I think he's a "person of potential interest victim".

A victim of interest.

 

[FinePrint]

CBS is reporting the same as ABC now from their sources. Sorry can't upload CBS story from this device.