Jussie Smollett: Crying Wolf and its Effecting Us!

Texas Southern University- Maybe because so many of us feel it is going to be harder for us African Americans or people apart of the LBGQT to be believed about hate crimes. Hate crimes are already a clear fear in these specific communities. Although we try to be humble about these struggles we still want better, so we definitely don’t have time for a hoax! This is hurtful to the people who fight for justice and equality every day.

TeQuila Chatman, Administration of Justice student at Texas Southern says, “ I feel as though there is more to the story that is being revealed I believe that if he is lying it’s because someone told him to as a way to tear down black and gay people in the media.”

Beveren, Finance student at Texas Southern says, “I think he shouldn’t even be in a situation where we don’t know who’s telling the truth however it affected me because I don’t know what’s going on out there I don’t know if this stuff is actually happening or it’s all a publicity stunt which I’m not cool with, he needs to be released and taken off everything because there are plenty of black men looking for his spot!”

Nevertheless—Jussie Smollett has played a part in crying wolf about his attack!

My first impression? Well, when the story first circled around social media, I just knew he had been attacked and I was concerned for him. Later, I learned during the attack they apparently did something to his neck that shook me in a scary way!

So What Happened to Jussie Smollett?

Well, it’s probably what didn’t happen to him.

According to him, Actor Jussie Smollett told Chicago police last month that two men attacked him near his apartment building in Streeterville, slipping a noose around his neck and yelling racial and homophobic slurs. More than three weeks later, authorities said they now believe Smollett was lying and charged him with disorderly conduct, alleging he filed a false police report.

Smolett has said his music manager was on the phone with him at the time of the attack and can corroborate this story. But police say the heavily redacted files aren't sufficient. Smollett says the information was redacted to protect the privacy of contacts and people not relevant to the attack. 

Beginning of February, Smollett's family issues a statement calling the attack a racial and homophobic hate crime. The family says he "has told the police everything" and " his story never changed" disputing assertions on social media that he has been less than cooperative and has changed his story.

On February 14th, Smollett gives national television interview on “Good Morning America,” seeking to put doubts to rest about whether he was attacked. “You do such a disservice when you lie about things like this,” Smollett told “GMA” co-anchor Robin Roberts. "I’ve heard that it was a date gone bad, which I so resent that narrative,” he told Roberts. “I’m not gonna go out and get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. That’s ridiculous. And it’s offensive.” He says he is convinced that the men in the surveillance images were his attackers. “I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did.”

But we found out it was staged with his supposed coworkers!

Chicago police announce hours later that detectives are interviewing the two "persons of interest" captured on video. A law enforcement source said the two men, brothers in their 20s, were brought in for questioning Wednesday night from O’Hare International Airport after arriving from Nigeria. One of them worked as an extra on “Empire,” the source said.

-- Chicago police later say local media reports that the attack against Smollett was a hoax are unconfirmed.

So what is a hate crime ?

The traditional” dictionary describes it as a crime, typically one involving violence physically & verbally, that is motivated by prejudice on the basis of race, religion, sexual orientation, or other grounds. With all of us knowing this about hate crimes why would Jussie stage one is what most of us our wondering right now.