Actor Justin Smollett – more commonly known as Jussie – has gained greater fame from the alleged attack against him than he ever did – or likely would – from his acting career. Not all notoriety is good, though. Smollett is facing a class four felony charge of disorderly conduct in falsifying a police report and is currently in the custody of the Chicago Police Department, awaiting a bond hearing to be held on Thursday, February 21.
Smollett’s story is now well known. On January 22, the Empire actor received a threatening letter – delivered to the studio where the television drama is filmed. Though his acting resume includes a couple of movie roles and some other less well-known TV shows, he is not exactly a household name.
The Hoax Plays Out
...the almost certainly sociopathic Smollett had achieved both his goals.
The letter, which bore the return address “MAGA” – from President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan – contained a white powder later discovered to be crushed aspirin. It also contained homophobic and racial slurs and a threat directed at Smollett himself.
Days later, the actor claimed to have been attacked on a Chicago street in the early hours of the morning. According to his account of events, two white men accosted him with racial and homophobic insults, having supposedly recognized him from Empire. Smollett alleged the men proceeded to beat him, put a rope around his neck and pour bleach on him. The actor claimed he remembered one of his assailants telling him “This is MAGA country.”
Outrage in Three … Two … One
Predictably, a wave of outrage swept across social media. This was more proof that Trump is inciting violence against blacks and homosexuals. It is more proof that Trump’s supporters are hateful, white supremacist bigots.
Jussie Smollett
The usual gaggle of entertainment industry figures and Democratic politicians piled on. Even some conservatives, in their haste to prostrate themselves before the altar of political correctness, jumped in with premature condemnations of the mysterious attackers. Notably, two Democratic 2020 presidential contenders, California Senator Kamala Harris and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker, were quick to take full advantage of the alleged attack – both describing it as a “modern-day lynching.”
Justin Smollett was now “Jussie,” the poor, victimized, gay, black man: the left’s latest martyr. For his part, the almost certainly sociopathic Smollett had achieved both his goals. Everyone now knew his name and his face, and he had managed to defame, as violent bigots, everyone who supports Donald Trump.
Although there was, in reality, plenty of skepticism over the alleged incident, no one with a public reputation to protect had the courage to suggest that, perhaps, everyone should wait for some solid facts to come out before jumping on the outrage bandwagon. No one publicly remarked upon the oddness of two men roaming the Chicago streets in freezing temperatures, carrying a length of rope and a bottle of bleach. No one wondered how two apparently white, racist Trump supporters were such fans of Empire that they recognized Jussie Smollett.
The Unravelling and the Consequences
The entire hoax quickly unraveled. The two Nigerian brothers Smollett allegedly paid to attack him spilled the beans to police. It was also discovered that Smollett himself had likely created the threatening letter mailed to the TV studio.
Fabricating phony crimes in order to smear and demonize – or otherwise damage – people who hold different political views is a standard tactic for leftists. If the concept of “hate crimes” has any validity at all, then such fabrications are, by any possible definition, hate crimes. The consequences, to the falsely accused, of such allegations could range from damage to one’s reputation and career to loss of liberty. Possible collateral damage includes the break-up of marriages and families and the incitement of resentment, hatred, and/or racial tension – any of which could lead to further violence and even murder. Entire sections of the population are unjustly painted as monsters.
Additionally, this is the “boy who cried wolf” scenario, whereby false accusations of racial or homophobic attacks make it less likely that the victims of real attacks will be taken seriously. It is past time for the perpetrators of such hoaxes to face severe penalties and Justin Smollett would make an excellent example.
Senators Harris and Booker – who are now insisting, a little too late, that they are waiting for all the facts to come out – should not be allowed to forget this incident. Much was made of Trump’s temperament and whether he was a stable enough man to have access to nuclear launch codes. Imagine how easily either of these two Democrats, who are so quick to jump to false conclusions, could plunge the world into annihilation.
Smollett may or may not get what he deserves, which would be a lengthy prison term. The media, the stars of stage and screen, and the rest of the permanently-outraged leftist mob will, in all likelihood, learn nothing from this debacle and similar false allegations will be made again. Excuses will be made for Smollett and the inevitable narrative will be that whether or not this incident was a hoax is irrelevant because Trump supporters are, in fact, prowling the streets every day in search of gays and blacks to lynch.
How many more times are we, as a society, going to allow this to happen? How long before a made-up story like this inspires someone else to take revenge on behalf of the supposed victim?
