"Empire" actor Jussie Smollett surrendered to authorities Thursday morning after he was charged with one count of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that Smollett is in custody after surrendering to authorities after 5 a.m. Police said they would conduct a news conference at 9 a.m. Smollett is expected to appear in bond court at 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
Police said a female attorney was present with Smollett when he turned himself in and his lawyers Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson were not present at the time.
The TV actor claimed he was the victim of a vicious hate crime in the Streeterville neighborhood last month, but the investigation turned on Smollet and he's now accused of allegedly orchestrating the attack with two brothers, one an extra on "Empire" and the other Smollett's personal trainer. A police spokesperson said this case is about accountability.
Meanwhile, the attorney representing the brothers, Gloria Schmidt, said they testified in front of a grand jury for hours Thursday and said Smollet needs to come clean about what really happened.
"I think that Jussie's conscience is probably not letting him sleep right now, so I think he should unload that conscience and just come out and tell the American people what actually happened," Schmidt.Now we shall see if several Democrat presidential candidates, the Democrat House speaker, reporters and commentators at several leftist television news networks, and leftist pundits will let the public witness any expansion of their worldviews, or whether any such expansion will in fact occur. Maybe they feel they can't afford any such expansion, given their career ambitions.
But they ought to remember this: they look like utter fools and charlatans to swaths of the public on which they depend for advancement in their particular fields. We can see that they are so entirely wrong about such a fundamental cornerstone of their worldviews that they ought not to be trusted with such grownup endeavors as governance, reportage or analysis.
But I'll bet most of them will just proceed as if this were a mere speed bump on their way to the grim world they intend to impose on us.
But whether they realize it or not, they go forth a bit hobbled by the brutal truth.
UPDATE: John McWhorter's piece about this at The Atlantic is a worthwhile read, full of insights sure to stick with you. And this little factoid: Smollett's mom is buds with Angela Davis.
My my it is amazing what real journalism will uncover.
ReplyDeleteThe Chicago Superintendent was disgusted. He said they had treated it as a hate crime until the evidence was that it was fabricated. why blame the press?
ReplyDeleteBecause of these chunks of dog vomit:
ReplyDelete1. Eugene Scott – Washington Post‘s The Fix reporter
“To many, the Smollett incident — and the political nature of the assault — is yet another reminder for many black gay Americans that this president’s vision of a ‘great America’ does not appear to include them,” wrote Eugene Scott for Washington Post‘s The Fix.
2. Don Lemon – CNN journalist
CNN’s Don Lemon told Red Table Talk that he wasn’t shocked when he heard Smollett’s story, adding that he was concerned about the actor’s “well-being” in having to deal with being black, gay, and famous.
“One, he has to deal with discrimination as a black man,” said Lemon, “then, on top of that, he has to be gay — and then, fame — fame is not natural — When something happens to you and it’s controversial, everyone is coming for you, and so I knew everyone would be picking apart his story.”
3. Yamiche Alcindor – PBS NewsHour White House correspondent
“We have to do better as a country. This is disgusting,” said PBS NewsHour White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, in a tweet referring to the alleged attackers shouting “This is MAGA country,” which was then retweeted by CNN commentator Sally Kohn.
4. Joyce Vance – MSNBC contributor
“If someone commits this kind of act under your banner, you should have the decency to publicly condemn them and say it’s not what you stand for. But I doubt Trump will,” tweeted MSNBC contributor Joyce Vance in response to Alcindor.
5. Jamil Smith – Rolling Stone journalist
“The brutal attack on him in Chicago appears to be yet another example not just of further moral decay, but of the brand of terrorism that still doesn’t seem to spark enough response by Americans,” tweeted Rolling Stone journalist Jamil Smith.
And these:
ReplyDelete6. April Ryan – CNN analyst
“This attack on @JussieSmollett is a hate crime and should be treated as such!” affirmed CNN’s April Ryan, in response to the NAACP’s Derrick Johnson, who claimed the actor had been a victim of a “racist, homophobic attack” and that “divisive, hateful rhetoric” is putting “lives at risk.”
7. Jemele Hill – The Atlantic journalist
“I’ve met @JussieSmollett a few times at social events and he emanates warmth and joy. I’m just disgusted and appalled that he has suffered the unimaginable,” tweeted an uncritical Jemele Hill.
8. Zerlina Maxwell – MSNBC analyst
“The media is broken. If they can’t call the attack on Jussie racist straight up then they need to find alternative employment,” argued the MSNBC analyst, scrutinizing any media that had been referring to the incident as an “apparent hate crime.”
“Apparent HATE CRIME?” continued Maxwell, “Sure bc that has a legal definition. But to be clear pouring bleach on a Black person while you are yelling about MAGA = RACIST”
9. Joy Reid – MSNBC correspondent
“Nooses never really disappeared as messages of a very specific kind of terror,” said MSNBC’s Joy Reid, “but every time they’re used, my God, it’s chilling. Praying for Jussie’s full recovery. And for us all.”
10. Karen Attiah – Washington Post editor
“Regarding the heinous attack on @JussieSmollett, yet another reminder that Trump’s ascendance and the resulting climate of hate has meant that lives have been increasingly at stake since 2015. Smollett could have been killed by those thugs screaming MAGA. Let that sink in,” tweeted Washington Post editor Karen Attiah.
11. Amy Siskind – Huffington Post contributor
“Can we get anyone in the Trump orbit to condemn the 2 MAGA men who brutally attacked Jussie Smollett, a gay black man, and put his head in a noose while saying ‘This is MAGA country,’ so others don’t feel like your silence is legitimizing hate? How about you @realDonaldTrump?” tweeted Huffington Post contributor Amy Siskind.
“Confirmed. Trump needs to address this attack publicly and condemn it!” continued Siskind in another tweet, which included a Huffington Post article that did not confirm anything, other than the fact that Smollett had spoken to the police.
12. Brooke Baldwin – CNN journalist and news anchor
“Absolutely despicable,” said CNN’s Brooke Baldwin on CNN Newsroom, “and this is America in 2019.”
So the lesson here is to ignore the police reports and go out and investigate on your own as a journalist? That happens in the movies maybe but in real life cops arent too keen on civies honing in on their territory. The cops and journalists are all pissed at the deception.
ReplyDeleteWas' up with this USCG Lieutenant they caught with an arsenal and a liberal hit list?
ReplyDeleteNo, the lesson here is that 97 percent of “journalists” in this country are oozing with confirmation bias and chomping at the bit to perpetuate the notion that systemic bigotry is some king of big problem that has accelerated since Trump was elected.
ReplyDeleteAnd what do you mean “what’s up” with coast guard lieutenant? He’s a terrorist nut and it’s a good thing he was caught before he carried out his plot
ReplyDeleteHe’s not representative of anyone beyond himself.
ReplyDeleteGotta be chompin' at the bit for something. Aren't you?
ReplyDeleteWell, I suppose you could say I'm chomping at the bit for Judeo-Christian morality, free market economics, a strong alliance of Western nations, and an American society that values maturity, dignity and common sense.
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ReplyDeleteAt least one Republican is concerned about that coastie terrorist and the climate he has grown out of, y, et you whine about a conspiracy against MAGA hats, yet you claim you detest Trump and are no longer a Republican either. The axes you grind may make you blind:
ReplyDeleteWhy would we be surprised that a self-proclaimed nationalist would not speak out against a self-proclaimed white nationalist?” he asked during an MSNBC appearance Friday. “Why are we acting like this is a space that Donald Trump is going to go in on behalf of the American ideal? No, he’s not.” Former Republican National Committee chair Michael Steel
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ex-rnc-chair-slams-trump-143115214.html
I saw that vile shit Steele was spewing. Absolutely disgusting. He came in for lots of condemnation on Twitter yesterday.
ReplyDeleteSick. Disgusting. When did Steele become so warped?
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