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Last week, a restaurant in the Canadian city of Winnipeg was allegedly defaced by racist graffiti and swastikas. News outlets described it as one of the "most brazen" attacks on the Jewish community in recent memory. A prayer vigil was planned for today. That event has been canceled amidst revelations that the Winnipeg police now believe the hate crime was a hoax staged by the Jewish owners of the BerMax Caffe. All three were arrested and charged with "public mischief," which is the Canadian equivalent of misleading police investigators.

Chicago is vowing a civil suit against Jussie Smollett after the "Empire" actor "refused to reimburse" the city for the cost of investigating his controversial case. In a statement obtained by Fox News, the city's law department said on Thursday that Smollett, 36, "has refused to reimburse the City of Chicago for the cost of police overtime spent investigating his false police report on Jan. 29, 2019." The statement said that the law department "is now drafting a civil complaint that will be filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County. " Per the statement, the department aims to file...

... Indefatigable truth seekers -- such as independent journalist Andy Ngo, Glenn Beck’s The Blaze network and the Daily Caller news website -- have chronicled a list of roughly 20 prominent “hate crimes” that enthralled the media but, after further review by the booth, were phonier than a used car salesman’s smile. Mostly, said cases involved black, Muslim or LGBT folks claiming an assault by the MAGA brigades. ...

JACKSON, Miss. — A member of a black church in Mississippi has pleaded guilty to burning the church, which was also spray painted with the slogan “Vote Trump,” a week before the 2016 presidential election. Andrew McClinton, 47, pleaded guilty to arson Thursday, the Delta Democrat-Times reported. His sentencing is set for late April. Investigators said McClinton belonged to Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Greenville, which was vandalized and burned. Mississippi Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney, who is also the state fire marshal, told The Associated Press that investigators believe the graffiti was intended as a distraction from some other sort...

Jussie Smollett has been hit with an additional 15 counts of filing a false police report by a grand jury and is now facing up to 48 years behind bars. The Empire actor was initially charged with one Class 4 Felony charge of disorderly conduct last month but a grand jury has applied that charge 15 times over in an 36-page indictment that was returned on Thursday. Now, he is facing a maximum sentence of 48 years behind bars and fines of up to $400,000. He is expected to cut a plea deal with authorities, according to experts cited by...

In 2017, prominent Michigan LGBT activist Nikki Joly, a transgender man, was the victim of an apparent hate crime: An unknown arsonist burned down his house, which had two dogs and three cats trapped inside. Some presumed the act was retaliatory—a response to Joly's successful campaign to persuade the government of Jackson, Michigan, to adopt an anti-discrimination law, for which a local newspaper declared him "Citizen of the Year." Now the police finally have a suspect in custody: Joly.Police have long suspected that Joly set the fire himself, though it took a while to collect sufficient evidence. According to The...

When Jussie Smollett alleged he had been beaten up on a Chicago street at 2am, in the middle of a polar vortex, by two white supremacists yelling racist and homophobic slurs who poured bleach over him and placed a noose around his neck, many were sceptical. ...

Jussie Smollett is back on the set of “Empire” in Chicago following his release from police custody on Thursday, Variety has learned. Smollett was released after posting bail in Chicago after police accused him of staging what was originally reported as a hate crime last month. He was originally intended to film throughout this week on the Fox series, but his role was dramatically reduced in light of his ongoing legal troubles. Whether or not Smollett will continue to work on the show as it wraps up the final two episodes of its fifth season remains to be seen. Fox...

...Jussie Smollett arrested and faces a felony charge for allegedly filing false police report...

about attack in Streeterville Jussie Smollett Jussie Smollett participates in an "Empire" panel during the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Aug. 8, 2017. (Willy Sanjuan/AP) Jeremy Gorner, Megan Crepeau, William Lee, Tracy SwartzChicago Tribune “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report about an attack he said occurred as he walked to his apartment building in Streeterville last month. The charge, a felony, was announced by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office Wednesday evening, hours after police called Smollett “a suspect in a criminal investigation...

Authorities have issued subpoenas to obtain records from Empire’s Jussie Smollett amid reports the actor-singer allegedly staged a racist and homophobic attack on himself last month, according to a report Wednesday. MORE: @ABC7Chicago has also learned subpoenas have been issued to obtain records from Jussie Smollett.— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) February 20, 2019 The report comes as lawyers for Smollett meet with prosecutors and police investigators. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said he did not know if Smollett was attending the meeting or the specifics of what was being discussed. He declined to confirm reports that subpoenas had been issued for the...

Jussie Smollett is now officially in the crosshairs of law enforcement, because Chicago PD said he's now "officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation ... for filing a false police report." The cops say detectives are currently presenting evidence to a Cook County Grand Jury. If Smollett is charged the felony carries a maximum 3-year prison sentence. We're told the 2 brothers are at the courthouse now and are expected to testify ... most probably today.

The brothers who say Jussie Smollett hired them to stage the alleged attack were caught on surveillance camera buying a bunch of items they used during the incident. The video -- first posted by CBS2 in Chicago -- shows Ola and Abel Osundairo at the checkout counter as they pile up the items, which include ski masks, gloves, bandanas, sunglasses and red hats. EXCLUSIVE: I tracked down surveillance of the Osundairo's buying supplies before "attack" Sources say Jussie Smollet told brothers what to buy. Countless phone calls placed for this. Visited more stores than I wish to admit. @cbschicago https://t.co/GT6h2g6Y9a...

The two men who were arrested on suspicion of committing a hate crime against actor Jussie Smollett denied attacking the black, gay actor or having any prejudice against him. ... “We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens,” the two said in a statement quoted by CNN. The statement was the first public words from the two men, who had been characterized as Nigerians in previous news reports since their arrest last week.

The Jussie Smollett investigation seems to have turned a corner over the past few days, but police haven’t issued a definitive statement yet. Regardless of what happens next, now seems like a good moment to remember that high-profile hate hoaxes have become a fairly common occurrence in the Trump era. Reporter Andy Ngo made a list on Twitter this morning: Andy Ngo ✔ @MrAndyNgo Right after Donald Trump’s election, the SPLC really stoked panic. A pro-gay Episcopal church in Indiana was vandalized w/“Heil Trump,” a swastika, & an anti-gay slur. Turns out it was the gay organ player who did...

After garnering a host of press attention for a supposed anti-black, anti-gay attack from supposed random supporters of President Trump, involving a noose, Hollywood actor Jussie Smollett looks pretty washed up now that a couple of Nigerians have been implicated by the Chicago cops in the perpetration of a hoax, supposedly to garner sympathy. But another Hollywood guy, a film producer named Tariq Nasheed, who also goes by hip-hop rapper-like names of "K-Flex" and "King Flex," thinks this isn't the end of the story. He smells a political rat. His series of tweets raises suspicions that the political response to...

Left-wing Hollywood wasted no time in politicizing and blaming President Donald Trump and his supporters for an alleged hate crime attack on Empire actor Jussie Smollett — an encounter that police now reportedly believe to have been staged. CNN’s Shimon Prokupecz reported Saturday, “Chicago Police believe Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the assault. The sources tell CNN that the two men are now cooperating fully with law enforcement."Left-wing Hollywood, of course, used the alleged attack to cast blame on President Trump and the United States in general. Empire co-creator Lee Daniels said, “We have to love each other...

(VIDEO AT SOURCE)Chicago (CNN)Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that Chicago Police believe Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the assault. The brothers, who were arrested Wednesday, were released without charges Friday after Chicago police cited the discovery of "new evidence." The sources told CNN that the two men are now cooperating fully with law enforcement. Smollett told authorities he was attacked early January 29 by two men who were "yelling out racial and homophobic slurs." He said one attacker put a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance on him....."It...

Jussie's broken his silence on his attack, stating ... "Let me start by saying that I'm OK. My body is strong but my soul is stronger." He then expressed thanks, saying ... "The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words." As for the investigation, Smollett says he's working with authorities and has been 100 percent factual and consistent. He says, "Despite my frustrations and deep concern with certain inaccuracies and misrepresentations that have been spread, I still believe justice will be served." Jussie also reiterated...

Chicago police say they’ve reviewed hundreds of hours of footage from downtown surveillance cameras but haven’t found footage yet of the alleged attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett. The department said in a news release late Tuesday that detectives reviewed footage from privately-owned cameras near where Smollett says he was attacked and will broaden their search by reviewing footage from traffic cameras and public bus cameras. Smollett told police he was walking downtown near the Chicago River at around 2 a.m. on Tuesday when two masked men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him, threw an “unknown substance”...