Jussie Smollett and a Perfect Crime

Consider some of the “hate crimes” that have garnered tremendous attention in the past two years.

A week before the 2016 presidential vote, a historic black church in Mississippi was spray-painted with pro-Trump graffiti and set ablaze, prompting a national spasm of anxiety amid the prospect that the bad old days were back. The Republican Party was hounded for comment on the episode, and reporters attributed the event to the “tense” state of “American politics.” The person charged in this crime was, however, a parishioner, and an official said the arson was designed to appear “politically motivated,” but was not.

Shortly after Mr. Trump’s election, a woman in Ann Arbor, Mich., insisted that she was approached by a white man who threatened to set her on fire if she did not remove her hijab. A Michigan lawmaker tied the case to the president-elect, who he said empowered “devastating racism, sexism and xenophobia.” But the police came to the conclusion that the whole thing was a hoax...

All of these events occasioned deep dives by the press into the forces of racial animus Mr. Trump unleashed during his campaign. But there was no chastened soul-searching when the deceptions were exposed. And few entertain the possibility that the attention these allegations generate has created an incentive structure for prospective hoaxers.

“All of these events (HOAXES) occasioned deep dives by the press into the forces of racial animus Mr. Trump unleashed during his campaign”

unbelievable.

29 Feb 2016: Wikileaks Podesta emails: *Subject:* *Hi Angel and Tina — running stuff by you re Clinton/Trump story in tomorrow’s NYT*
FROM PATRICK HEALY - NEW YORK TIMES
Hi Angel, hi Tina, Hope you’re both well. Amy Chozick and I are doing a story about how the Clinton campaign and its supporters view Trump as a general election opponent and plan to run against him. The story will run in tomorrow’s paper...
President Clinton, like others, thinks that Trump has his finger on the pulse of the electorate’s mood and that only a well-financed, concerted campaign portrayed him as dangerous and bigoted will win what both Clintons believe will be a close November election...
He, Mrs. Clinton, and the campaign all agree that they will need to seize on opportunities to paint Trump as extremist and recklessly impulsive...
Happy to talk this over by email or phone before 6pm today. Thanks, Patrick
https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/59194

29 February 2016: NYT: Inside the Clinton Team’s Plan to Defeat Donald Trump
By Amy Chozick and Patrick Healy
But others, including former President Bill Clinton, dismissed those conclusions as denial. They said that Mr. Trump clearly had a keen sense of the electorate’s mood and that only a concerted campaign portraying him as dangerous and bigoted would win what both Clintons believe will be a close November election...
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/01/us/politics/hillary-clinton-donald-trump-general-election.html

Noah Rothman: “The real tragedy in all of this is that hate crimes are, in fact, on the rise in the Trump era, particularly against Jews and Muslims.”

Tucker Carlson just interviewed Robby Soave/Reason:

18 Feb: Reason.com: Robby Soave: Jussie Smollett Reminds Us That Some Hate Crimes Are Hoaxes—and the Statistics Are a Mess
As the investigation turns on the Empire star, it’s important not to confuse “reality” with “narrative.”
While it’s true that the FBI’s count of hate crimes rose 17 percent from 2016 to 2017, it’s important to note that 1,000 additional agencies reported information to the FBI in the latter year. It should go without saying, but as the number of agencies participating in the FBI’s count of hate crimes grows more numerous, the total number of hate crimes will undoubtedly rise. This does not necessarily mean that hate crimes are surging—just that the authorities undercounted them previously...

A few months ago, many in the media became obsessed with a figure from the Anti-Defamation League, which purportedly showed that anti-Semitism had spiked a whopping 57 percent under Trump. But part of that statistic reflected an increase in bomb threats against U.S.-based Jewish institutions perpetrated by just one person: a deranged Israeli teenager. Anti-Semitic violence, according to the ADL’s count, actually decreased 47 percent...
https://reason.com/blog/2019/02/18/jussie-smollett-hate-crime-hoax-empire

As Smollett Story Unravels, ABC Defends Robin Roberts' Softball Interview on GMA
By Kristine Marsh, newsbusters.org | February 18, 2019

ABC’s Good Morning America team went into full damage control mode Monday, after news broke over the weekend that actor Jussie Smollett had allegedly paid two men to stage his assault. Just last Thursday, anchor Robin Roberts had given the actor a softball interview, even refusing to call his story of a Trump supporter assaulting him, “alleged.” Leading into the report, Roberts finally did call the quickly unraveling story “alleged:”

"A new twist in the Jussie Smollett case. The actor firing back this morning as the story of his alleged attack faces questions. Police in Chicago say they're working to corroborate allegations that Smollett paid two men to stage the assault," she stated. In reporter Eva Pilgrim’s report, she tried to save face for ABC, stressing that police had said Smollett was “cooperating fully” with the investigation up until this point. Pilgrim did not mention that the Chicago Police Department also said Smollett would only give partial, redacted phone records to them.

Roberts followed up by defending her interview with the actor, as appropriate given the knowledge they had at the time: This case is ever evolving. Head-spinning. Changing. When I sat down with Jussie, it was Tuesday night in Chicago. At the time to give his first account publicly give his first account of what he said happened. And we have to remember, at that time, on Tuesday, police officers were saying that his account was consistent. It was credible. And that he was being cooperative. This was all before the interview aired on Thursday and then we found out about the brothers. Afterwards, the ABC team brought on the network’s legal analyst, Dan Abrams, to help do more damage control, spinning Roberts’ interview as more even-handed than it was by hyping the few times she had gingerly brought up skeptics of his story:

[I] have to say, Robin, even in the interview you did, you were talking about the skeptics. You were talking about the people who questioned his account. So, it's not new this idea that there are questions about what happened. What's new is that the police now seem to be making it clear that they believe the brothers and have, at the very least, serious questions about Jussie.

To end their segment, ABC hammered home how they weren’t responsible for how much airtime his problematic story got to begin with. GMA’sweekend anchor Dan Harris worried that just Smollett, not their network or the media as a whole, had caused damage for actual victims of hate crimes. Dan Abrams agreed, even admitting that the media “wanted” to believe Smollett’s account.

Again, the ABC team wouldn’t acknowledge the media’s role in spreading his dubious account:

DAN HARRIS: If Smollett made this up, what kind of impact does this have on other people that come forward to tell stories that are true about assault?
ABRAMS: I think that is the real impact here. I think this would have a big impact on the country. Which is, you want to believe someone. I mean, you're talking about an allegation of homophobia, racism, politics, all of it in one allegation. If it turns out that this well-known person just made this up, it's going to, I think, lead some people to have questions about coming forward. It will lead others having questions about whether they believe people's accounts. This is having a much bigger impact I think.....

"Yes. It is a very interesting turn in this case. I know people who talked to Jussie over the weekend. He insists that he had nothing to do the story. The more you hear, the more questions that are being raised. The investigation we should stress is still underway," she gushed.

https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/kristine-marsh/2019/02/18/smollett-story-unravels-abc-defends-robin-roberts-softball

(hat tip Skywise)

DEMOCRATS’ EIGHT COMMANDMENTS (they actually believe in something)

Defending the citizens of the republic is now fascism.

If you don’t let illegal immigrants invade your country - you’re a fascist.

If you don’t submit to communism you’re a fascist.

If you don’t turn over your guns to prove you won’t be violent - you’re a fascist.

If you actually use the banks and commerce to silence opposing viewpoints to communism you’re stopping bullying.

If you use threats of violence (Maxine, Obama, antifa, Hillary, Pelosi) and actually shoot republicans, you’re a hero.

If you use social media to silence conservatives, you’re aiding the cause.

If you vilify Pres Trump and his followers in Hollywood, you get an award.

breitbart.com
By Alana Mastrangelo
on Twitter at @ARmastrangelo
and on Instagram.

Here’s 12 establishment media commentators and journalists who fueled the Jussie Smollett flames with impassioned and uncritical reactions to the Empire actor’s imaginative account of his supposed run-in with Trump supporters in “MAGA country” Chicago.

1. 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.

6. 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.”

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