After being officially indicted yesterday for filing a false police report, Jussie Smollett turned himself in early this morning for arrest in relation to an alleged attack that took place on January 29.
A press conference was also held this morning and was led by The Police Superintendent, who also happens to be African American. He began the conference by expressing that he wished the plethora of victims of gun violence in Chicago received just as much attention as this case. It’s very clear that he was angry about the turn of events and it became clear that the evidence in place shows that Smollett staged this as a hate crime to further his career and standing on Empire.
The Superintendent also said that Smollett betrayed the African American & LGBT communities to further his career in a “publicity stunt” in order to receive a raise on his show as he was dissatisfied with his salary. The ruse began with a “false letter” that was allegedly sent by Smollett himself that was littered with racist and homophobic insults towards the actor. When that didn’t work and receive enough attention, Smollett began to create the hoax that has now gained national attention.
Smollett turned himself in this morning and was booked at about 5:00 AM. He heads to bond court at 1:30 PM CT and will either post the bond or be released on his own recognizance and will not be entering a plea at this time.
Police officially called Smollett a “victim” after the attack with was said to be one filled with hate speech and a physical assault that resulted with a noose being wrapped around his neck. Doubts began to creep in early on when they found it weird that he would keep the rope around his neck for 42 minutes after the “attack” and they were even more suspicious when he took them to the scene and immediately pointed to a camera which he said captured the incident. As it turns out, the camera was pointed in the wrong direction.
The two brothers who were paid to stage the attack, Ola and Abel Osundairo, said they drove with Smollett in the days prior to the incident scouting a location and even rehearsed the “attack” in question. Law enforcement believes Smollett chose January 29 to stage the attack because he knew the brothers were leaving for Nigeria that day.
When Smollett was indicted yesterday his lawyers, Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson, released the following statement: “Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked. Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense.”
