IL - Actor Jussie Smollett allegedly attacked in hate crime Jan 2019 #5 Smollett indicted”

[Backstroke10]

I'm from the same state and I honestly haven’t heard a soul talk about it in real life - not even the guy I work with who pretty much constantly yammers on about either political or controversial issues. Hoaxes are all ugly, but most people tend not to dwell on them for long.

That's interesting. I find it a bit troubling that people aren't talking about it more.

 

[MsBetsy]

I'm from around there and I do not feel bad about this case, nor do I need pity and I don't feel that he has done anything to me.

But that should not discount the many people that do! We can still empathize even if we ourselves don't feel that way. Imo

 

[angelainwi]

That's interesting. I find it a bit troubling that people aren't talking about it more.

I live less than 2 hours north of where it happened and I have not heard one person talk about it

 

[Love Never Fails]

I'm from the same state and I honestly haven’t heard a soul talk about it in real life - not even the guy I work with who pretty much constantly yammers on about either political or controversial issues. Hoaxes are all ugly, but most people tend not to dwell on them for long.

Hi Jane,
I am from a neighboring State and people here are talking about it and find him disgusting.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

That's interesting. I find it a bit troubling that people aren't talking about it more.

They just have different priorities. There are a ton of things to worry about, and this asinine hoax just isn’t on the list for many people.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

But that should not discount the many people that do! We can still empathize even if we ourselves don't feel that way. Imo

Sure. But I think it’s instructive to realize that most of the outrage seems to be on the internet, or seems to be for those of us who live in the state.

I imagine people did feel some outrage, shook their heads and moved on. For whatever reason, I’ve only seen one friend post about it on Facebook and haven’t heard mention of it anywhere in real life. Maybe it’s because nobody else’s lives were ruined by this particular hoax (as sometimes happens when innocent people are prosecuted). It seems he’s ruined his own career and wasted a lot of people’s time.

 

[SpanishInquisition]

I think this is great. I'm glad they sent him this letter but could they really prosecute him after all of the charges have already been dismissed?

This is the city ordinance that they're citing for payment:
Any person who knowingly makes a false statement of material fact to the city in violation of any statute, ordinance or regulation, or who knowingly falsifies any statement of material fact made in connection with an application, report, affidavit, oath, or attestation, including a statement of material fact made in connection with a bid, proposal, contract or economic disclosure statement or affidavit, is liable to the city for a civil penalty of not less than $500 and not more than $1,000, plus up to three times the amount of damages which the city sustains because of the person’s violation of this Section. A person who violates this Section shall also be liable for the city’s litigation and collection costs and attorney’s fees.
Chicago False Claims Act | Whistleblowerlaws

This is being handled by the city of Chicago's own ordinance prosecutors who enforce city ordinances, which are separate from the charges brought against Smollett:
Branch Court attorneys prosecute municipal ordinance violations cited primarily by the Chicago Police Department. There are six misdemeanor branch court locations throughout the City. One prosecutor is assigned to each branch court facility and handles all the ordinance violation cases that appear in that courtroom. Occasionally prosecutors appear on ordinance violations that are citied in felony cases as well. Offenses prosecuted by the Branch Court attorneys range from misdemeanor offenses which carry a potential or mandatory penalty of jail time to fine-only offenses.
City of Chicago :: Legal Information and Prosecutions

 

[SpanishInquisition]

Can someone explain the demand letter? Is the threatened charge for a violation of a city ordinance, and the dropped charges were state charges?

Basically that's it

 

[Trident]

I live less than 2 hours north of where it happened and I have not heard one person talk about it

That is strange. Even my son in Italy is talking about it.

 

[Backstroke10]

I live less than 2 hours north of where it happened and I have not heard one person talk about it

I'm thinking people are hesitant to talk about it "in real life" because he is black and gay. They may fear sounding either prejudice or homophobic. IMO As I've shared before on here, since my son is Hispanic and gay, I feel like I can say this without sounding "politically incorrect".

 

[jggordo]

I believe a part of the reason that this case is blabbergasting to nearly all of the Country and not so much in Chicago directly is that Murder and the types of Crime here is so normal and citizens are nearly immune to the news now. Were it not for the fact that Jussie requested and got a national audience on GMA and screamed hate crime many of us wouldn't even have heard of it.

JMO

 

[Thora_Jay]

I'm from the same state and I honestly haven’t heard a soul talk about it in real life - not even the guy I work with who pretty much constantly yammers on about either political or controversial issues. Hoaxes are all ugly, but most people tend not to dwell on them for long.

I am not “from” the state if Illinois, but I live in the state and have lived here for years.

I live in the suburbs about less than 50 miles from Chicago.

People are talking about this case all over here. They are upset. I have not heard anyone here not “dwelling” on the hoax. After hearing that the charges were dropped, people here are fuming even more.

No one here is not going to let this rest, no one out of this state is going to let this rest either. People everywhere are upset and outraged.

 

[MassGuy]

I'm thinking people are hesitant to talk about it "in real life" because he is black and gay. They may fear sounding either prejudice or homophobic. IMO As I've shared before on here, since my son is Hispanic and gay, I feel like I can say this without sounding "politically incorrect".

Exactly.

And that’s the tactic that has been used to silence people who used common sense in reaching a conclusion that something wasn’t right here.

Disagree, and you are called all sorts of names.

It’s as wrong as it is petty.

If you have to resort to name calling, then you’ve lost the argument.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

I'm thinking people are hesitant to talk about it "in real life" because he is black and gay. They may fear sounding either prejudice or homophobic. IMO As I've shared before on here, since my son is Hispanic and gay, I feel like I can say this without sounding "politically incorrect".

Unfortunately, the people who live in my area have no qualms about sounding racist or homophobic. So I don’t think it’s that. It’s just not on their radar.

 

[anonypotomous]

This is ugly and may create a war.

In that case, Jussie is getting exactly what he wanted.

IMO

 

[squareandrabbet]

I can see people who don't pay attention to news not knowing about it - it's not like people at my office have discussed it aloud, for example - but I know I've seen them staring at the TVs (our office has nonstop MSNBC and CNN playing in the hallways, whether we want it and find it distractionary or not; and I promise MSNBC at minimum has covered this story extensively - CNN is on the other load bearing pole so I'm not quite as certain about them). I also generally make a habit in the mornings out of visiting news.google.com, where I feel there's also been some daily link (I might be mixing my homepages up, though; that's always possible).

 

[Backstroke10]

Unfortunately, the people who live in my area have no qualms about sounding racist or homophobic. So I don’t think it’s that. It’s just not on their radar.

BBM I hear ya. Where I'm from it's the same.

 

[Deleted member 158085]

In that case, Jussie is getting exactly what he wanted.

IMO

I don’t know that he wanted a war. I think it was plain and simple greed. He’s beyond selfish that he didn’t care about the fallout for those who report real hate crimes. He was focused solely on himself and his career - which will fittingly only suffer now.

 

[TTF14]

Yeah, I texted my only Chicago friend the other day (he lives right where the "incident" happened) to ask him what the "mood" was. He said he hadn't really noticed much, and he's very much out in the public/talking to people because of his job AND he's a caucasian MAGA supporter. So he is paying attention. Maybe the Internet is more fired up than "live" people are.

 

[MassGuy]

I don’t know that he wanted a war. I think it was plain and simple greed. He’s beyond selfish that he didn’t care about the fallout for those who report real hate crimes. He was focused solely on himself and his career - which will fittingly only suffer now.

I agree with you.

This was personal, and he wasn’t considering ramifications along the lines of some “race war.”

He wanted attention, and he had other motivations that are known only to him.

This was all about him.