Jussie Smollett charged with a felony for his role in an apparent fake hate crime.

Jussie Smollett. CBS News/Getty.

Actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with a felony count of disorderly conduct by filing a false police report in his fake hate crime hoax. CBS News. The 36 year old actor first mailed a fake letter using cut out letters from a magazine and a white powder that turned out to be an over the counter pain killer. When that plot failed to gain attention he apparently hired two Nigerian men to fake a hate crime involving violence, a noose, and bleach. The brothers admitted their role in the scam. Smollett blamed the attack on two white men who supported President Trump and used racist and homophobic language. Video was found that showed the two Nigerian brothers purchasing supplies that were used in the attack, including rope and red hats. If convicted Smollett could face up to three years in prison and would have to pay for the cost of the investigation. 

My Comment:

This may not be the end of the problems for Jussie Smollett. The letter he sent to himself could lead to federal charges as well. Sending a chemical/biological threat through the mail and forcing a hazmat response is not something the federal government is going to ignore. Even if the attack was a false flag, the feds are not going to screw around with something like this. They will likely throw the book at him. 

It seems likely that the Chicago police have gathered enough evidence to lead to a conviction. Let's review it quickly. Smollett's partners in this scheme have agreed to testify against him and were caught with much of the same items that were used in the staged attack. There is strong physical evidence that ties them to the crime and Smollett's social media posts will be used as evidence against him. 

Which makes me wonder where his defense lawyers will go with it. There seems very little doubt that Smollett is guilty of what he has been charged with unless there is some kind of exculpatory evidence we haven't seen. My guess is that the lawyers will try to go with jury nullification, which is where the jury agrees that a crime was committed but refuse to convict anyways. Since the trial will likely be in famously liberal Chicago, filled with people that hate President Trump and his supporters, there is a chance it will work. If so, it will be a major miscarriage of justice. 

One wonders though if Smollett worked alone. He has some pretty big connections including presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Corey Booker, as well as many contacts in the media. Though I don't think any of them would be that stupid to help him in this, I do think it probably warrants investigation. My guess is that Smollett came up with this plan on his own. 

I do think that Smollett should be charged with a hate crime. I don't think that's possible but it was clear that he was motivated by racism and bigotry. He wanted to paint Trump supporters and white people as racists and homophobes and he very well could have caused riots or violence if his story had been more widely believed. Thankfully, none of that happened, due in part to the cold weather. Had this happened in summer, it could have been a riot. 

I also think it is a very fitting punishment for Smollett if he is convicted for him to lose his voting rights, at least temporarily. Felons do get their voting rights back when they finish their sentence in Illinois, but I doubt that will happen before the 2020 election. Smollett ironically gave up his right to vote against President Trump by faking a hate crime against his supporters. And that's assuming he doesn't get hit with further federal charges...