| | | Jussie Smollett's Hate Crime Story Is Falling Apart, "Almost Certainly" A Hoax
thefederalistpapers.org
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John Dietrich, from the Defense Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, thinks Smollett’s version of events is “almost certainly” a hoax.
Coverage of the alleged attack on black homosexual entertainer Jussie Smollett will slowly fade into the sunset. Many prominent people in the media and politics have commented on the case, and when it is revealed as a hoax, as it almost certainly will be, their credibility will suffer further damage. It is best to let it quietly slide down the memory hole.
Smollett was supposedly attacked by two assailants at about 2:00 AM on the morning of 29 January. This was one of the coldest nights of the year at minus 12 degrees and a wind chill of minus 20. Smollett claimed that he was attacked by two men who called him “Empire f—– n—–,” beat him, poured an “unknown chemical substance” on him, and put a rope around his neck. One report claims that the attackers “used their teeth as well as hands and feet as weapons.” …
The Chicago Police Department is not sparing any expense to find the alleged perpetrators. Chicago Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said, “We are starting to search stores to see if any of this kind of rope was purchased in the area.” The FBI is reportedly also involved. Video footage of the area is being viewed for evidence. Guglielmi said investigators would go “painstakingly” through footage to reconstruct what Smollett said happened. Two individuals have been found on video in the area about at the same time as Smollett’s alleged attack. The video is worthless for identification purposes. For some reason, authorities are interested in whether these people are “homeless or otherwise.” It has recently been reported that Smollett was on camera for all but about 60 seconds of his trip. This would make it almost impossible for the attack to take place.
Smollett said, “I am working with authorities and have been 100% factual and consistent on every level.” Smollett did not tell police in his first interview that his attackers yelled, “This is MAGA country.” Smollett’s manager, Brandon Z. Moore, said that he was on the phone with him when the incident happened and that he heard the attackers shouting, “This is MAGA country!” On Friday, the head of the police department, Superintendent Eddie Johnson, said Smollett had been “very cooperative and we have no reason at this point to think he’s not being genuine with us.” The Chicago Police Department issued a statement claiming, “The victim is fully cooperating with investigators.” Yet Smollett refused to surrender his phone in order to verify that he was talking to his manager during the attack. …
A week after the attack the police superintendent was beginning to show signs of skepticism. He reported that Smollett was still being considered a victim, but if investigators found that he had made a false report, he would be held accountable. …
Police have now scoured hundreds of hours of video footage and have found nothing resembling an attack on the star.
Keep in mind the alleged attack occurred in one of the most surveilled areas in the United States.
Fox 32 Chicago reporter Rafer Weigel said “My sources in Chicago PD are telling me this is looking more and more like a hoax.”
There are cameras all over the place but none caught the alleged vicious attack, The Daily Mail reported.
However, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi noted there are gaps and none of the footage police have reviewed shows the alleged attack.
Smollett, who is black and gay and who plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox drama, said the white men wearing ski masks assaulted him, hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him, doused him with an ‘unknown chemical substance’ previously reported as bleach and put a thin rope around his neck before yelling ‘this is MAGA country’ and fleeing.
Guglielmi said detectives investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from businesses and hotels in the heavily monitored area.
But he said they still need to collect and view more. He said they are expanding the search to include footage from public buses and buildings beyond the crime scene’s immediate vicinity in the hopes of spotting the men who match Mollett’s description of the suspects.
‘We haven’t seen anybody, at this point, matching the description he gave, nobody looks menacing and we didn’t find a container anywhere,’ Guglielmi said, referring to a container for the liquid that was thrown at the actor.
Chicago has one of the most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems in the US, with thousands of CCTV cameras mounted on street poles, skyscrapers, buses and in train tunnels.
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