Charges against Jussie Smollett have been dropped. Illinois State
prosecutor dropped all the charges even after the police said investigators had
enough evidence to convict the Empire
Actor.
On Tuesday, the prosecutor announced that they would drop
all charges concerning Smollett’s allegations that he was a victim of hate crime
in January. He said he does not believe the movie star is innocent but claimed
he dropped the case because the actor has no criminal background.
First Assistant Joe Magats said he thought Smollett s guilty
but that “based on the facts and circumstances” of the case and “based on his
lack of criminal background’ the decision was made.
According to the actor, he reported to the police that two
men attacked him yelling racial and homophobic epithets. Later he was charged with
16 felony counts after Chicago Police investigations implied that Smollett had
falsified reports about the attack. He was facing 48 years in prison for
allegedly lying to the police regarding the attack.
The decision to set free Smollett angered the Chicago Mayor Rahm
Emanuel. In a press conference, he said he believed the investigations against him
had been conducted fairly. Emanuel called
the dropped charges “a whitewash of justice.” The mayor and Chicago PD Superintendent
Eddie T. Johnson further claimed that the prosecutor had brokered a deal in
secrecy with Smollett, claims he refuted.
The actor denied ever making a deal with the prosecutor to
set him free. He thanked the State of Illinois for trying to do the right thing
and thanked “my family, 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.
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