Photo credit – Chicago Police Department/Getty Images
People were SHOCKED to hear that Jussie Smollett’s charges had been dropped after he was accused of filing a false police report and of orchestrating a hate-filled attack against himself in Chicago.
The actor appeared in an emergency court hearing, where the charges were dismissed. Shortly after, Smollett’s legal team released 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,” they said. “Jussie was attacked by two people he was unable to identify on January 29th. He was a victim who was vilified and made to appear as a perpetrator as a result of false and inappropriate remarks made to the public causing an inappropriate rush to judgment.”
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel wasn’t too pleased when he heard the news. He spoke about Smollett’s charges being dropped and said that this will impact the honesty of future crimes.
Reported on NYDN the mayor said, “he used the laws of the hate crime legislation that all of us, collectively over years, have put on the books to stand up to be the values that embody what we believe in,” Emanuel said. “This is a whitewash of justice. A grand jury could not have been clearer.”
Watch the clip here: