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None Dare Call It a Hoax: The Jussie Smollett Saga Continues
pjmedia.com ^ | February 9, 2019 | By Rick Moran

Posted on 02/11/2019 11:38:38 AM PST by Red Badger

The bizarre case of Jussie Smollett continues to unfold with the police still investigating what Smollett insists was a "hate crime."

Smollett tells the story of walking down the street in sub-zero temperatures and being attacked by two men wearing MAGA hats and screaming racial and homophobic slurs at him. Was this a hate crime?

Maybe it was. And then, maybe he wasn't attacked at all.

The incident occurred in Chicago, a city torn by racial strife and massive distrust of the police. John Ziegler of Mediaite writes of how the investigation is unfolding:

Among other things, the police have made it very clear they have not yet found any proof of an attack, despite having almost all of Smollett’s movements on surveillance video. They have disclosed that Smollett would not give over his cell phone to verify his timeline of events. They even published photos of “persons of interest” that they had to know were going to be universally mocked for being obviously irrelevant.

In my view, none of those important revelations would have been made public in the way that they were, unless there was extreme suspicion within the police force that Smollett’s story was not fully accurate.

By extension, media figures would not be being told by their police sources, as I have been told is currently happening both routinely and with vigor, that the authorities are acting on the assumption that they will never find any evidence to fully substantiate Smollett’s story. This isn’t just happening via idle speculation either, the police are doing so with great specificity, even including an alternative theory for what really happened (current attempts to find the origin of the rope found around Smollett’s neck long after the event was over are believed to be the most likely game-changer, if there ever is one in this case).

In truth, the Chicago police are terrified of even hinting they doubt Smollett's story. There is no major city in the U.S. where the cops are more distrusted by blacks than in Chicago. The police risk a riot if they let it be known they think Smollett is trying to hoax them.

The media -- also massively distrusted by blacks in the city for supposedly always placing them in a bad light -- is tiptoeing around the hoax story.

As for the Chicago media, a couple of local television reporters are apparently using Twitter as a confessional for information about the case that their stations currently fear to air. Rob Elgas of the Chicago ABC affiliate, and Rafer Weigel of the Fox station (which carries Smollett’s show Empire) have continually updated the developments, or lack thereof, in a way that paints a much different picture from the one that viewers would see on an actual newscast.

It is very obvious that if one major news outlet in Chicago had the guts to be the first to openly discredit Smollett’s story, the others would soon follow the leader. But because the risk of being wrong in this situation (see Smollett’s PC Force Field), there is just no incentive to take that dive until and unless the police finally make a definitive statement.

Will the police let the matter die rather than prosecute Smollett? Fox's Weigel says no:

#ChicagoPolice Supt Eddie Johnson says #JussieSmollett 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. — Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) February 5, 2019

Since so many have asked me if @Chicago_Police will let #JussieSmollett case go unsolved, I’ll give my opinion. Given the high-profile nature of the crime, I don’t believe so. I believe they’ll either find the perpetrators responsible or charge #Smollett w/ filing a false report — Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) February 8, 2019

I will believe that when I see it.

The cops have subpoenaed Smollett's phone records. It will be awkward for him if he fights the action. But it won't matter now. If the police drop the matter without finding the perpetrators, the outcry in the black community will be just as loud. And if they charge Smollett, violence will be likely.

Maybe the cell phone records will buttress the actor's case. But there are upwards of 30,000 surveillance cameras in the city and not one of them has apparently caught Smollett's attackers.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Government; US: Illinois
KEYWORDS: empire; fakecrime; hoax; jussie; smollett
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To: Red Badger

Smollett is an English and Scots surname, originally meaning small head.


21 posted on 02/11/2019 12:07:34 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: Red Badger

They’ve had time to get DNA test results from that rope and that should tell the tale.


22 posted on 02/11/2019 12:09:32 PM PST by fella ("As it was before Noah so shall it be again,")
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To: Red Badger; lee martell
Okay, sometime after the 26th then. No one wants to throw a big unknown variable into their calculations in an election.

Still one wouldn't assume that most blacks are on his side. I've always heard that blacks don't necessarily have an affinity or tolerance for lying drama queen gays. (That is, if we're going to generalize...)

23 posted on 02/11/2019 12:11:35 PM PST by OKSooner (Whichever one you already have, go buy the other one and then you'll have both.)
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To: Red Badger

It’s a hoax, and the prediction is the Chi Town PD will never say it, but will carry it as an open investigation.


24 posted on 02/11/2019 12:13:42 PM PST by kenmcg (tHE WHOLE)
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To: kenmcg

No, they cannot risk being seen a incompetent or homophobic. They will have to pursue charges.....................


25 posted on 02/11/2019 12:19:16 PM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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To: Red Badger

Tawana Smollett


26 posted on 02/11/2019 12:20:21 PM PST by Travis T. OJustice (<---Time Magazine's 2006 Person of the Year)
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To: kenmcg

What if Cory Booker or one of the other doofuses running for the Democratic nomination makes it a campaign issue—”Justice for Jussie!” Then, wouldn’t the Chicago PD be sort of forced to keep it as an “open investigation” indefinitely?


27 posted on 02/11/2019 12:23:03 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: humblegunner

Lover’s spat or maybe a gerbil session gone wrong


28 posted on 02/11/2019 12:23:34 PM PST by technically right
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To: Red Badger

The police will let this simmer for awhile, and then say it will be an ongoing investigation, because they don’t have enough information to determine whether it happened or not. Whether or not the police chief wants to declare this a hoax, it’s out of his hands. Higher ups won’t allow a black gay celebrity to be charged. Meanwhile, the media can use this for their anti-Trump agenda.


29 posted on 02/11/2019 12:26:51 PM PST by robel
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To: Red Badger

You can’t expose it as a hoax tho... You can’t prove something DIDN’T happen. They’ll file it, file thirteen, and it will fade away. Unless the. . . erm Gentleman keeps running his mouth, which is possible. If not probable.


30 posted on 02/11/2019 12:35:23 PM PST by ichabod1 (He's a vindictive SOB but he's *our* vindictive SOB.)
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To: butlerweave

really?


31 posted on 02/11/2019 12:40:47 PM PST by ichabod1 (He's a vindictive SOB but he's *our* vindictive SOB.)
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To: Verginius Rufus

They’d have to go out and FIND some perpetrators.


32 posted on 02/11/2019 12:47:06 PM PST by ichabod1 (He's a vindictive SOB but he's *our* vindictive SOB.)
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To: ichabod1

really?

Are you a fan of Eek the Cat ,LOL


33 posted on 02/11/2019 1:27:03 PM PST by butlerweave
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To: Red Badger

Another entry on the fake hate crimes list.
http://fakehatecrimes.org/

If there really was such an oppressive culture, there would be no need to fake hate crimes ... much less the literally hundreds on the list.


34 posted on 02/11/2019 1:56:33 PM PST by tbw2
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To: butlerweave

“Smollett is an English and Scots surname, originally meaning small head.”

That’s the one that likely got him in trouble in the first place.


35 posted on 02/11/2019 2:07:55 PM PST by bk1000 (I stand with Trump)
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To: ichabod1

If Obama were still President and if it weren’t so cold, they might try to frame a couple of white guys and encourage rioting a la Ferguson or Baltimore. Any young white man who didn’t have an ironclad alibi would be someone who could potentially be named as one of the alleged attackers. But it may be too late to try that now.


36 posted on 02/11/2019 2:55:32 PM PST by Verginius Rufus
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To: Red Badger
"The police risk a riot if they let it be known they think Smollett is trying to hoax them."

Riot? What for? The 'victim' is walking around with nary a scratch on him.

Blacks aren't going to jump up and riot because the police call bull on Smollet's story.

37 posted on 02/11/2019 5:41:42 PM PST by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: Windflier
Riot? What for? The 'victim' is walking around with nary a scratch on him.
Blacks aren't going to jump up and riot because the police call bull on Smollet's story.

Chicago thugs will not pass up an opportunity for looting, if the media supports it enough by talking about it, and Rahm and the crowd all agree to police-free zones, in advance.

38 posted on 02/11/2019 5:43:31 PM PST by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: Teacher317
Chicago thugs will not pass up an opportunity for looting, if the media supports it enough by talking about it, and Rahm and the crowd all agree to police-free zones, in advance.

And there it is. I knew someone would post that.

39 posted on 02/11/2019 6:51:01 PM PST by Windflier (Pitchforks and torches ripen on the vine. Left too long, they become black rifles.)
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To: Windflier

The cops know he’s lying, but they also know that if they came out and said as much, they would have a handful of ‘trouble makers’ start crap in the streets...............


40 posted on 02/12/2019 6:36:42 AM PST by Red Badger (We are headed for a Civil War. It won't be nice like the last one....................)
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