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Is 'Empire' Star Jussie Smollett's Story Falling Apart?
PJ Media ^ | 2/12/2019 | Tyler O'Neil

Posted on 02/13/2019 5:12:23 AM PST by simpson96

Chicago police say they will be requesting more phone records from "Empire" star Jussie Smollett regarding the racist and homophobic attack he allegedly faced two weeks ago. Smollett has turned over heavily redacted phone records, but evidence has begun to emerge suggesting his story was fabricated. Rumors are swirling that police are even considering charging him with filing a false report.

On Monday night, Fox 32 Chicago anchor Rafer Weigel reported that police "received cell phone records today from Smollett's camp. They were limited and redacted but detectives will analyze them."

Weigel had previously reported that the police superintendent plans to hold Smollett accountable if the investigation reveals he made a false report. "[Chicago Police Superintendent] Eddie Johnson says [Jussie Smollett] is still being treated as the victim in this case but if the investigation does reveal he made a false report he will be held accountable," he tweeted. That threat seems more likely.

Late Monday evening, ABC7 Chicago reported that an empty hot sauce bottle that smelled like bleach was found near the location of the alleged attack. Smollett had told police that the attackers — who wore "Make America Great Again" hats and screamed "This is MAGA country!" — had poured an unknown bleach-smelling liquid on him and put a noose around his neck after they yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him at 2 a.m. on January 29.

Chicago police confirmed a New York Post story about the hot sauce bottle.

"It's unclear if that is related to the incident as it was not discovered during any of the earlier canvasses but we took it for analysis," Chicago Police Department (CPD) spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. "The FBI is providing CPD with technical assistance on this case at our request. I'm not sure if the bottle went to their lab or one of ours."

As for the phone records, Guglielmi said, "We are very appreciative of the victim's cooperation, however, the records provided do not meet the burden for a criminal investigation as they were limited and heavily redacted. Detectives may be following up with him to request additional data to corroborate the investigative timeline."

Chicago police have not been able to identify any legitimate suspects in the case, nor have they been able to find any surveillance footage of the attack. There is speculation that the hot sauce bottle may have been placed after the fact to prop up the hoax if Smollett indeed made a false report.

Some locals smell a rat.

"I don’t believe it happened the way he said it did," Chicago resident Agin Muhammad told the New York Post. Muhammad reportedly lives in the same high-rise as Smollett.

"I’ve been in this neighborhood five years. I don’t believe it, not around here…. Half the people are gay and the other half are black."

In "Empire," Smollett plays a gay character, Jamal Lyon. The actor has also come out as gay.

Many Americans are waking up to the possibility that Jussie Smollett's story may be a hoax. Jeff Giesea, an entrepreneur who has written for NATO and the Harvard Business Review, tweeted, "The weight of evidence supports what we’ve suspected all along: This is a hate hoax. [Jussie Smollett] should be arrested for filing a false police report & sued. In this era of disinfo, these hoaxes and their media enablers must be held accountable."

Conservative blogger Matt Walsh laid out the basic incongruity of Smollett's story: "he claims he was attacked by white Trump-loving racists in one of the most liberal parts of one of the most liberal cities in America. No similar attacks have been reported by anyone in the town."

"He's on camera walking down the street. There is only a 60 second gap where he is not on camera, he claims the attack just so happened to occur during that gap," Walsh continued. "But cameras don't pick up anyone fitting the description of the suspects. If they exist, they must have vanished into thin air. Also, Smollett claims he was on the phone during the attack but didn't want to turn his phone over to police."

"Finally he did turn his phone records over, but redacted them so heavily as to make them useless. Oh and his own neighbors think the story is totally bogus," Walsh added. "If this guy wasn't a celebrity, police would have already charged him with filing a false report. The story was clearly bogus from the get go, and only became more bogus with each new revelation."

Quillette's Andy Ngo noted that the very person who said he could hear the attackers over the phone himself refused to let police examine the phone.


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: chicago; empire; hoax; jussie; smollett
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To: JudyinCanada

I immediately thought child porn myself. Great minds and all that!


21 posted on 02/13/2019 5:39:37 AM PST by miss marmelstein
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To: PSUGOP

Exactly. All they have to do is match up his statements, to what the phone company records detail. If he says he texted this person or that person, there will be a log of that text. They can’t get what was in the message but they can determine if it was/wasn’t made. And if they get the right record, they’ll be able to determine his location, as well. He’s gay, black and liberal. He thinks he can get away with anything. I hope that CPD has some lesbian, black, liberals working the case.


22 posted on 02/13/2019 5:43:42 AM PST by qaz123
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To: simpson96

Then there’s the possibility he slipped and fell on the icy sidewalk.......


23 posted on 02/13/2019 5:46:40 AM PST by Hot Tabasco (ui)
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To: simpson96

Jussie Smallet has committed a slanderous hate crime against white people.


24 posted on 02/13/2019 5:47:53 AM PST by chris37 (No wall? No vote.)
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To: Celerity

The media is controlling our narrative.

Totally obvious when the media started agreeing with the Dems that the embarrassing parts of the Green New Deal were products of Republican misdirection. People are awakening to the complete bias, but I fear not enough to overcome the vote fraud in our elections.


25 posted on 02/13/2019 5:48:12 AM PST by originalbuckeye ('In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act'- George Orwell.)
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To: chris37

“Jussie Smallet has committed a slanderous hate crime against white people.”

He was inspired by his god the Fraud’s example for 8+ years.

A bigger racist Fraud this country has never known.

US Sen. Robert KKK Bird, D-Wva never tried to hide it, until he thought he had to, and then his supporters told me I had to buy his book to read his “apology”.


26 posted on 02/13/2019 5:51:02 AM PST by treetopsandroofs
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To: simpson96

A lot of words to say duh.


27 posted on 02/13/2019 5:51:21 AM PST by mindburglar (Don't bother. I don't debate.)
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To: simpson96
Smollett has turned over heavily redacted phone records

Isn't tampering with evidence considered a crime? The police should simply subpoena the records.

28 posted on 02/13/2019 5:51:35 AM PST by Bloody Sam Roberts (Atrophy of science is visible when the spokesman goes from Einstein to Sagan to Neil Degrasse Tyson.)
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To: simpson96

Wrong verb tense and form; how about “has fallen”...


29 posted on 02/13/2019 5:52:21 AM PST by ManHunter (You can run, but you'll only die tired... Army snipers: Reach out and touch someone)
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To: originalbuckeye

“People are awakening to the complete bias”

I have seen ZERO Rats say, “You know, I think I’ve been wrong about all this Trump/America hating.”


30 posted on 02/13/2019 5:52:40 AM PST by treetopsandroofs
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To: treetopsandroofs

I think Trump’s approval rating reflects the small awakening. But no Dem will admit that their lifelong ideology is falling apart at the seams.


31 posted on 02/13/2019 5:55:25 AM PST by originalbuckeye ('In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act'- George Orwell.)
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To: ScottinVA

We can start calling him a former Empire star. He’s about to fade.


32 posted on 02/13/2019 6:00:47 AM PST by Oldexpat (Jobs Not Mobs)
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To: adorno
Half the people are gay. The other half is black.

1/2 plus 1/2 = 1, a whole person.

What then are we to make of Don Lemon, and most half black, but all gay? And this Jussie guy? 1/2 + 1 = 3/2, which is greater than one. Supermen!

Maybe that's why they are such attention hogs and pushed in our faces every day.

33 posted on 02/13/2019 6:00:56 AM PST by Pearls Before Swine ( "It's always a party when you're eating the seed corn.")
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To: qaz123

He is not making CPD look like fools, they are responsible for that.

This entire farce on both sides is nauseating. Law enforcement and its political masters are just as disgusting as this little creep.


34 posted on 02/13/2019 6:01:42 AM PST by ChildOfThe60s (If you can remember the 60's....You weren't really there)
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To: adorno
Everyone knows there are lots of halves; this half, that half, their half, my half, your half...……..

So all those halves add up to the whole.

35 posted on 02/13/2019 6:02:28 AM PST by Lockbox
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To: simpson96

This numb nutz sent the CPD on a wild goose chase and they are pissed. Smollett wasted a few thousand Police man-hours and counting.


36 posted on 02/13/2019 6:11:54 AM PST by dennisw
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To: simpson96
well,, this little twinkle-toes is a thespian ..
37 posted on 02/13/2019 6:13:21 AM PST by ßuddaßudd ((>> M A G A << "What the hell kind of country is this if I can only hate a man if he's white?")
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To: ßuddaßudd
...well,, this little twinkle-toes is a thespian ..

I thought I read that he doesn't like women.

38 posted on 02/13/2019 6:16:14 AM PST by BlueLancer (Orchides Forum Trahite - Cordes Et Mentes Veniant)
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To: simpson96

His story fell apart the moment he refused to turn over his cell phone which would have verified a portion of his story - if he wasn’t lying about it.


39 posted on 02/13/2019 6:20:24 AM PST by Will88 (The only people opposing voter ID are those benefiting from voter fraud.)
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To: beef

They said it was regular clothesline rope. I can buy that at CVS, Walgreens or Walmart. Heck, even my local grocery (used to be a Piggly Wiggly) sells it.


40 posted on 02/13/2019 6:33:45 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (The media is after us. Trump's just in the way.)
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