Prosecutors have agreed to drop criminal charges against the Empire actor Jussie Smollett for apparently faking a hate crime attack in Chicago, drawing claims from mayor Rahm Emanuel of a “whitewash of justice”.
Smollett was earlier this year charged with 16 counts of felony disorderly conduct for allegedly hiring two men to stage a racist, homophobic attack against him in downtown Chicago.
But prosecutors on Tuesday performed a shock reversal by dropping all the charges barely five weeks after they were filed – and authorities offered little explanation for the decision to abandon the case. At a press conference, Emanuel attacked the decision as a “whitewash of justice” and at one point said of Smollett: “Is there no decency to this man?”
The justice system is full of radical lefties not wanting to see their own charged.
And you know this, how, "Nicole"? I'm interested in what experience you have had with the justice system. Most judges I've known have been well, rather conservative in their views...
Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. - Eric Blair
The justice system is full of radical lefties not wanting to see their own charged.
And you know this, how, "Nicole"? I'm interested in what experience you have had with the justice system. Most judges I've known have been well, rather conservative in their views...
Most judges are
Narcissistic
Self centred
Corrupt
Bombastic
Morons who think they know everything, but are in fact totally insulated from the real world and therefore know nothing of the real world.
They are simply the pawns of the grubberment, placed into a position of power to enforce the grubberments revenue tactics.
When a real case come up, they have no idea what to do so they just make stupid judgments.
We need a system where we get to vote them in like I. The US
Tgat way, these morons tgat let criminals off with a slap on the wrist woukd last less than a day.
In Australia they are kolas, protected species who can do and say what they like without question or repercussions.
Sack them all and put some honest people in.
What a difference it woukd be.
I have a dream
A world free from the plague of Islam
A world that has never known the horrors of the cult of death.
My hope is that in time, Islam will be nothing but a bad dream
The justice system is full of radical lefties not wanting to see their own charged.
And you know this, how, "Nicole"? I'm interested in what experience you have had with the justice system. Most judges I've known have been well, rather conservative in their views...
Try going to the 9th Circuit.
We are not talking about Australia here, Brian, although we are seeing a swing to the left over the passed few years.
The "women" that let Smollett off is bought and paid for by George Soros.
Please don't compare the US Judge Circuits with the Australian system - it just shows how ignorant you are.
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
The justice system is full of radical lefties not wanting to see their own charged.
And you know this, how, "Nicole"? I'm interested in what experience you have had with the justice system. Most judges I've known have been well, rather conservative in their views...
Try going to the 9th Circuit.
We are not talking about Australia here, Brian, although we are seeing a swing to the left over the passed few years.
Oh, I didn't know that "Nicole" lived in the US...
The "women" that let Smollett off is bought and paid for by George Soros.
And your evidence of that is, what, exactly, Serial? No conspiracy nut websites please.
Please don't compare the US Judge Circuits with the Australian system - it just shows how ignorant you are.
Why attack me? "Nicole" was talking about the Australian system, not the US one...
Nationalism is not to be confused with patriotism. - Eric Blair
CHICAGO (AP) — Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx on Wednesday defended the decision by her staff to drop charges that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett staged a racist, anti-gay attack in January.
Foxx recused herself before Smollett was charged last month because she had discussed the case with a Smollett family member. The case was handed to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joseph Magats.
Foxx didn’t directly answer the question when CBS 2 TV in Chicago asked if she believed Smollett was innocent, as Smollett has continued to contend, saying only that the matter was handled properly. She pointed to Smollett forfeiting his $10,000 bond and doing community service in return for dropping the charges. Magats has said that he does not believe Smollett is innocent and Chicago police say he faked the attack.
“I believe that the outcome — him having to forfeit the $10,000, having to do community service, based on the allegations, and again the (low level) felony and no (criminal) background, are an outcome that we could expect with this type of case,” she said.
She also insisted no one tried to intervene on Smollett’s behalf, despite emails showing that Foxx was contacted by people linked to Smollett about the case.
“There was no attempt, whatsoever, to influence the outcome of this case,” she said. “None whatsoever.”
Email and text messages provided to the Chicago Sun-Times by Foxx’s office show former first lady Michelle Obama’s chief of staff Tina Tchen contacted Foxx a few days after the report of the attack to set up a telephone conversation with a Smollett relative. Foxx told the Sun-Times the relative expressed concerns over leaked information that media outlets attributed to “police sources.” Foxx then called Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson to ask him to let the FBI investigate the alleged attack. The contacts were cited by Foxx in recusing herself from the case on Feb. 13, well before Smollett was charged.
An attorney for Smollett late Wednesday blasted Chicago officials , saying they have “continued their campaign against Jussie Smollett after the charges against him have been dropped.”
Patricia Brown Holmes said the case is closed.
“We should all allow Mr. Smollett to move on with his life as a free citizen,” she said in a statement.
Again Wednesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized prosecutors, saying that dropping charges made no sense.
“Something is rotten in Denmark,” he told reporters Wednesday during an unrelated event. “It doesn’t add up.” Hours after the charges were dismissed Tuesday, Emanuel called the outcome “a whitewash.”
Also Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said the Democrat is considering a lawmaker’s request to review the prosecutors’ decision to dismiss charges against Smollett.
Raoul spokeswoman Annie Thompson had no further comment Wednesday.
Republican state Rep. David McSweeney filed a resolution requesting a “comprehensive examination” of the circumstances around the Smollett case.
The House would have to approve McSweeney’s resolution. Democrats outnumber Republicans 74-44. And the attorney general is not bound by such a legislative request.
Defense attorneys have said Smollett’s record was “wiped clean” of the 16 felony counts he’d faced. The actor told reporters Tuesday that he had “been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one.”
Authorities alleged that Smollett, who is black and gay, knew the men and arranged for them to pretend to attack him as a publicity stunt.
