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Jussie Smollett GUILTY of faking hate crime, Internet says 'don't beat yourself up'

Smollett, 39, was found guilty of five of the six felony disorderly conduct counts he faced, one for each time he was accused of lying to police

COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS: Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty on Thursday, December 9, of staging a hate crime against himself. Prosecutors said that the one-time star of the TV drama 'Empire' committed the crime in an attempt to gain sympathy and boost his career. The Cook County Circuit Court jury deliberated for as many as nine hours. Smollett, 39, was found guilty of five of the six felony disorderly conduct counts he faced, one for each time he was accused of lying to police.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb described Smollett's account of the story as 'ridiculous'. Following the verdict, he said that “Mr. Smollett would not have lost this case as he did today unless the jury found that he lied to them.” Smollett’s lead defense attorney, Nenye Uche, said, "I don’t for one second believe that justice was done today." Smollett refused to speak to reporters as he left the courthouse. The charges carry a possible sentence of three years in prison, though legal experts say Smollett is more likely to get probation and be ordered to perform community service.

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What was the Jussie Smollett case?

Smollett had claimed that he was walking home from a Subway restaurant on January 29, 2019, when he was attacked by two men wearing ski masks. The men, he claimed, hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, and even put a noose around his neck. Smollett alleged that one of the attackers appeared to be White. While being assaulted, he allegedly heard one assailant yell, “This is MAGA country" — a reference to then-President Donald Trump’s slogan.

Smollett's manager called the police and cops arrived to find that the noose was still hanging around his neck. “I just wanted y’all to see it,” Smollett had told them. However, two brothers — Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo — later informed police that Smollett had faked the attack. They said that Smollett made them stage the assault in an attempt to grab the attention of his 'Empire' (musical drama) bosses. Smollett was ultimately charged with giving a false report to the police.

In a shocking move later, Cook County prosecutors dropped the charges after Smollett's indictment. Following a mass outcry after this incident, a special prosecutor, Dan Webb, was appointed. Just before the pandemic hit, Webb and his team brought a new indictment against Smollett in February 2020. Finally, on November 29, 2021 the evidence against Smollett was publicly aired in court.

Jussie Smollet's 'obvious hoax'

The Internet welcomed the verdict that found Smollett guilty of the "obvious hoax". "Jussie Smollett’s obvious hoax was an intelligence test that millions of liberals failed from day one- Including Biden and Kamala," one user said. "Let’s just say that Jussie kicked his own a** really good this time! #JussieSmollett," wrote another. "Jury finds Jussie Smollett guilty of five felonies for staging a fake hate crime in Chicago. Look forward to @VP’s apology for this Tweet calling what happened to Jussie a lynching. And for @JoeBiden’s apology for calling this an example of homophobia and racism," one user wrote.

"Jussie Smollett guilty on first five counts. Sixth count not guilty. Justice obviously served. Don’t expect any apologies from those who brought this ridiculous take from Day 1, starting with the VP and ABC’s Robin Roberts," one user said, while another wrote, "There is no difference between Bubba Wallace, LeBron James, Colin Kaepernick, or Jussie Smollett. They're all frauds and liars!". Dinesh D'Souza wrote a rather mean tweet saying: "Jussie #Smollett’s pathological lying, even after being caught red-handed, tells you a lot about the sense of immunity that he feels, as a “twofer” who is both black and gay, from the normal standards of moral accountability. The Left creates these monsters!" wrote one user.