Smollett Charged With Crime

[Shiloh Raven]

We had conversations between family and friends that we hadn't had.

I did too with my family. We talked about mental health and people acting out in random strange behavior because they don't know how to properly deal with their emotional pain otherwise.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

Doesn't look that way.

I'm not sure who would be considered the victim of a hate crime here. He may be a hateful person, but I don't see how he can be charged with a hate crime.

I'm also not going to completely discount the possibility that he's dealing with the onset of a mental illness. This is a weird, poorly thought out, erratic, and generally unusual crime. If he's genuinely struggling with something, I'd rather he get help asap.

My thoughts he has mental issues. He allowed someone to beat him up also. Right? I would never.

 

[bèlla]

But what if the police had arrested someone else. Then what? How far would he have allowed this to go?

 

[bhsmte]

seriously? I suspect if you think real hard about that post there's a part that you might want to rethink using. Not because I think you meant it bad, just that it might not be the best word to describe a black gay actor.
tulc(just thought it should be pointed out)

If these allegations are true and it would appear the police have the goods, i think this guy is a narcissist, to go to these lengths and convince himself it is ok. To me, this is also racist behavior, when one needs to manufacture racist claims.

 

[bèlla]

The alleged motive...

Jussie Smollett, Upset Over Salary, Staged Assault, Police Say

Jussie Smollett, upset by his salary and seeking publicity, staged a fake assault on himself a week after writing himself a threatening letter, the Chicago police said Thursday after the “Empire” actor surrendered to face a felony charge of filing a false police report.

The Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson, visibly angry at a morning news conference, said Mr. Smollett had taken advantage of the pain and anger of racism, draining resources that could have been used to investigate other crimes for which people were actually suffering.

“I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention,” he said, referring to the news media.

The police say the staged assault was carried out by two brothers to whom the actor had paid $3,500 and that they have a copy of the check Mr. Smollett used to pay them. Also recovered, they said, were phone records that showed Mr. Smollett speaking to the brothers an hour before Mr. Smollett said the incident took place, and an hour after that time.

 

[Ana the Ist]

My thoughts he has mental issues. He allowed someone to beat him up also. Right? I would never.

It's a possibility...that's all I'm saying. It's hard to imagine a motive for why he would do this. I don't want to jump to that conclusion...because I don't know him.

 

[Ana the Ist]

The alleged motive...

Jussie Smollett, Upset Over Salary, Staged Assault, Police Say

Jussie Smollett, upset by his salary and seeking publicity, staged a fake assault on himself a week after writing himself a threatening letter, the Chicago police said Thursday after the “Empire” actor surrendered to face a felony charge of filing a false police report.

The Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson, visibly angry at a morning news conference, said Mr. Smollett had taken advantage of the pain and anger of racism, draining resources that could have been used to investigate other crimes for which people were actually suffering.

“I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention,” he said, referring to the news media.

The police say the staged assault was carried out by two brothers to whom the actor had paid $3,500 and that they have a copy of the check Mr. Smollett used to pay them. Also recovered, they said, were phone records that showed Mr. Smollett speaking to the brothers an hour before Mr. Smollett said the incident took place, and an hour after that time.

Ahhh...it was money after all. What a greedy piece of garbage.

He deserves more than he pleaded for.

 

[Aldebaran]

My thoughts he has mental issues. He allowed someone to beat him up also. Right? I would never.

He sure didn't look very beaten up. Since none of it was on camera, and he had no injuries to show, it's likely that being "beaten up" is as phony of a claim as the rest of his story.

 

[bèlla]

Ahhh...it was money after all. What a greedy piece of garbage.

He deserves more than he pleaded for.

He should have built a business and he could have preserved his reputation and dignity. No one will ever pay you what you're worth.

 

[Aldebaran]

If these allegations are true and it would appear the police have the goods, i think this guy is a narcissist, to go to these lengths and convince himself it is ok. To me, this is also racist behavior, when one needs to manufacture racist claims.

One thing that seems poorly thought out and makes no sense is why he would have 2 black guys wear red MAGA hats and say, "This is MAGA country" if he wanted to paint his attackers as being Trump supporters and racist against black people. If the staged incident would have been caught on camera, people would have seen how little sense it made. On top of that, if the camera would have seen it, his two friends could have been identified and put in jail for a hate crime. Were those 2 guys willing to endure that for the $3500 they were paid???

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

He sure didn't look very beaten up. Since none of it was on camera, and he had no injuries to show, it's likely that being "beaten up" is as phony of a claim as the rest of his story.

I thought he had bruised ribs. I read that on here.

 

[Aldebaran]

I thought he had bruised ribs. I read that on here.

That's possible.

 

[tulc]

The idea of two people (of any color) in Chicago walking around wearing MAGA hats was the first thing I thought was unlikely. And then shouting "This is MAGA country!" was when I told Mrs.tulc I think this is not going to be real.
tulc(could see two guys getting jumped for wearing MAGA hats in parts of Chicago being much more likely then the opposite)

 

[Aldebaran]

The idea of two people (of any color) in Chicago walking around wearing MAGA hats was the first thing I thought was unlikely. And then shouting "This is MAGA country!" was when I told Mrs.tulc I think this is not going to be real.
tulc(could see two guys getting jumped for wearing MAGA hats in parts of Chicago being much more likely then the opposite)

Looks like Smollett wasn't a very good actor, and was an even worse script writer.

 

[Ana the Ist]

Does anyone want to make a guess as to why he thought pretending to be the victim of a hate crime would end up being profitable for him?

 

[Aldebaran]

Does anyone want to make a guess as to why he thought pretending to be the victim of a hate crime would end up being profitable for him?

It would appear that when someone is of a protected class, a news story about them becoming a "victim" makes headlines. The Smollett case is a prime example. Once he reported this "attack" to the police, we all found out about it because it was splashed all over the news. He got what he wanted at that point, and it made him a household name.

 

[usexpat97]

In terms of racial relations, I don't think this story is anywhere near finished yet.

 

[Ana the Ist]

It would appear that when someone is of a protected class, a news story about them becoming a "victim" makes headlines. The Smollett case is a prime example. Once he reported this "attack" to the police, we all found out about it because it was splashed all over the news. He got what he wanted at that point, and it made him a household name.

You aren't wrong...he could certainly do interviews to tell his story.

...what I think is that his social media following can probably affect his bottom line when negotiating contracts. He already claimed that he was an activist (at least I remember a few articles referring to him that way)...but being a symbol for them is probably going to boost his following significantly.

 

[MehGuy]

Everything is going according to plan.. he's actually a sort of double agent.. he wanted to be caught in the hopes that this stunt will take away from real victims of hate crimes. Right now he's probably laughing maniacally in his jail cell, lol.

 

[CRAZY_CAT_WOMAN]

But what if the police had arrested someone else. Then what? How far would he have allowed this to go?

I don't know how far this would have went. This has happened before. Usually the victim gets a settlement. After spending a lot of time in prison . By that time the statute of limitations runs out.