Attorneys of Empire actor Jussie Smollett said on Tuesday, 26th March 2019 that all charges against him had been dropped. Prosecutors apparently abandoned the case barely five weeks after the singer was accused of staging a homophobic and racist attack against himself in downtown Chicago.
According to reports by CBNC, Smollett’s attorneys Tina Glandian and Patricia Brown Holmes shared in a statement,
“Today, all criminal charges against Jussie Smollett were dropped, and his record has been wiped clean of the filing of this tragic complaint against him.
“Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th.”
Smollett speaks
After the hearing, Smollett made a brief statement.
He said:
“I want to thank my family, my friends, the incredible people of Chicago and all over the country and the world who have prayed for me, who have supported me, who have shown me so much love.
“I want you to know that not for a moment was it in vain. I’ve been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I’ve been accused of. This has been an incredibly difficult time, honestly one of the worst of my entire life.
“But I am a man of faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history and I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I would like to thank my legal counsel and the state of Illinois for attempting to do what is right.”
Is justice served?
The mayor and police chief blasted the decision and stood by the investigation that concluded Smollett staged a hoax. A visibly angry Mayor Rahm Emmanuel called it “a whitewash of justice” and lashed out at Smollett. He asked, “Is there no decency in this man?”
His attorneys declared that the 16 felony counts against him, related to making false reports of assault, had been wiped clean.
“I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I was being accused of,” Smollett told reporters after a court hearing. He thanked the state of Illinois “for attempting to do what’s right.”
AP reports that the Cook County prosecutors’ office offered no detailed explanation of what prompted the decision to dismiss the case.
BREAKING: Jussie Smollett speaks after prosecutors drop all charges against him:
“I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I have been accused of” https://t.co/Un0cXv4DjS pic.twitter.com/gV4lMcUZ0f
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) March 26, 2019