January 1, Actor Found Guilty of Staging Hate Crime

Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty of faking a hate crime against himself to increase his celebrity status.

“Besides being against the law, it is just plain wrong to outright denigrate something as serious as real hate crime and then make sure it involved words and symbols that have such historical significance in our country,” said special prosecutor Dan Webb during his closing arguments.

In 2019, the former Empire actor reported a horrifying hate crime that quickly became a high-profile issue in a polarized political landscape.

Smollett, a gay Black man, said he was walking home in downtown Chicago when two masked men attacked him, shouting, “This is MAGA country.”

The actor said his attackers put a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressing support for then-President Donald Trump.

But a month later, police arrested Smollett, accusing him of staging the assault as a ploy to gain public sympathy and increase his celebrity cache.

As it turns out, Smollett hired two brothers to fake an attack so it could be recorded by a surveillance camera and spread on social media for publicity.

The brothers testified that Smollett paid them $3,500 and gave them scripted lines to yell.

When Smollett first introduced the bogus attack to the public, it made headlines worldwide. It prompted a massive investigation in Chicago, wasting the resources of roughly two-dozen officers and 3,000 staff hours.

Trump called the police department’s handling of the case “an absolute embarrassment to our country.”

Following a one-week trial, the jury handed down its verdict after roughly nine hours of deliberations. The jury convicted the 39-year-old on five counts of disorderly conduct.

Disorderly conduct is a felony charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of three years. However, experts say that Smollett will likely receive probation and mandatory community service.

Smollett was fired from Empire after prosecutors said the attack was a hoax.

“I’ve lost my livelihood,” he told jurors.

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Jussie Smollett guilty verdict latest in polarizing case