All Charges Against Jussie Smollett Dropped!

photo credit: Jamie Lamor Thompson // Shutterstock

Jussie Smollett is now a free man! All 16 charges against the “Empire” actor for allegedly orchestrating a fake homophobic attack against himself, have been dropped as of Tuesday morning.

Cook County prosecutors released this statement about Jussie’s charges being dropped,

“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.”

Jussie attorney’s Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes released this statement

“Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him. Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgement.
Jussie and many others were hurt by these unfair and unwarranted actions. This entire situation is a reminder that there should never be an attempt to prove a case in the court of public opinion. That is wrong. It is a reminder that a victim, in this case Jussie, deserves dignity and respect. Dismissal of charges against the victim in this case was the only just result.
Jussie is relieved to have this situation behind him and is very much looking forward to getting back to focusing on his family, friends and career.”

Patricia Holmes says the state made the legal decision to seal the records and drop the charges, clarifying that this is “not part of a deferred prosecution” and “there is no deal.” Adding “I have no idea what occurred in this case and why it occurred. I can just say things seemed to spiral somewhat out of control. We’ve gotten to a result that is the right result in this case and we’re happy for that.”

Fox, who houses “Empire” says, “Jussie Smollett has always maintained his innocence and we are gratified that all charges against him have been dismissed.”

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel spoke on his disappoint in the decision calling it a “whitewash of justice”, adding “Where is the accountability in the system? You cannot have because of a person’s position one set of rules applies to them and another set of rules apply to everyone else.”

“Our officers did hard work day in and day out, countless hours workign to unwind what actually happened that night. The city saw its reputation dragged through the mud … It’s not just the officers’ work, but the work of the grand jury that made a decision based on only a sliver of the evidence [presented],” he continued. “Because of the judge’s decision, none of that evidence will ever be made public.”

Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson expressed his disappointment as well saying, “Do I think justice was served? No. What do I think justice is? I think this city is still owed an apology.” “Prosecutors have their discretion of course, we still have to work with the state’s attorneys office, we’ll have conversations after this,” he said. “At the end of the day it was Smollett who committed this hoax.”

The case began back in January when Smollett told police he was attacked by two men who used racial and homophobic slurs during an attack at 2 a.m. After police detained two brothers who were “persons of interest” in mid-February, police sources revealed that authorities suspected Smollett knew the men and allegedly had paid them $3,500 to stage the attack. The men were released without being charged, but Smollett denied any involvement in orchestrating an attack.

The two brothers were caught of tape buying rope that appeared around Smollett’s neck. Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson said their investigation from a hate crime to a false police report after the Osundairo brothers decided to cooperate. He went on “GMA” to reveal they had more evidence showing Smollett staged the attack, but it hadn’t been made public yet.

Written by Clarke Jones

Source: CNN

All Charges Against Jussie Smollett Dropped!

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