Video for Jussie Smollett's Anti-Trump Anthem Featured Black Man With Noose -- UPDATED
Such a bizarre coincidence that in 2017 Jussie Smollett wrote a song blasting Donald Trump -- and even featured a black man with a noose:
Why are we back in the past?
It's the same script, different cast
All of these alternative facts
Catch me outside, how about that?
Why is it so hard to keep hope?
Who got that popular vote?
Was the whole thing just a joke?
Was the whole thing just one big joke?
It's almost like you couldn't have scripted this attack more perfectly. Meanwhile, various right-wing media outlets are reporting that Smollett's neighbors aren't buying his story of a hate crime outside their luxury building -- and noting that Chicago police said Sunday that Smollett has yet to turn over data from his cellphone to verify that he was on the phone with his music manager, Brandon Moore, when he was allegedly attacked..
CHICAGO — Nearly two weeks after “Empire” star Jussie Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack, cops have yet to identify any suspects — and some people in his tony Chicago neighborhood are growing skeptical.
“I don’t believe it happened the way he said it did,” said Agin Muhammad, who lives in the same swank high-rise near the Navy Pier as Smollett.
“I’ve been in this neighborhood five years. I don’t believe it, not around here … Half the people are gay and the other half are black.”
A patron at Lizzie McNeill’s Irish Pub, about a block from the scene of the alleged Jan. 29 incident, said Smollett’s story “doesn’t really make sense.”
“It’s a lie, because Chicago is the most liberal city around,” said the man, who wouldn’t give his name. “They have cameras everywhere … Why can’t they find the attack?”
Cops have said they found plenty of surveillance video, but none that captured the incident.
Meanwhile, Chicago police said Sunday that Smollett has yet to turn over data from his cellphone to verify that he was on the phone with his music manager, Brandon Moore, when he was allegedly attacked.
Moore has said he heard Smollett’s assailants shout a “racial slur” and the words “MAGA country,” an apparent reference to President Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
“We have no reason to doubt the statements, but for a criminal investigation, we need to independently confirm the phone records,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
“We offered to take the phone to download the data and he expressed he couldn’t be without his phone for several hours.”
Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson has said that Smollett, 36, was being treated as a crime victim, but would be held accountable if cops learn he filed a false report.
Smollett told cops he was confronted by two men, one wearing a black mask, who hurled gay and racist epithets at him, calling him “’Empire’ f—-t n—-r” while he was walking home shortly before 2 a.m.
The assailants allegedly punched Smollett in the face, doused him with a liquid — believed to be bleach — and tied a rope around his neck in an underpass between the Sheraton and Loews Chicago hotels.
Last week, The Post traced Smollett’s likely route to the underpass from a 24-hour Subway sandwich shop where he bought a tuna sandwich and a salad.
Near the foot of a stairwell to the Loews, The Post found an empty hot sauce bottle that was partially filled with a clear liquid that smelled like bleach.
The Post alerted police, who seized the bottle. Guglielmi said it was turned over to the FBI for analysis.
The FBI declined to comment.
Conservative pundit John Zielger had a more nuanced take HERE.
UPDATE: Media outlets are reporting that Smollett has finally provided his phone records to the Chicago Police Department, but it still sounds like they’re hiding something.
“Phone records from Jussie’s manager were sent to police on Feb. 5 and Jussie’s records were sent over this morning. Both were sent to Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of Police Robert Boik, who confirmed receipt,” a spokesperson for the “Empire” star said in an email, 13 days after Smollett alleged he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack.
“We have no reason to doubt the statements, but for a criminal investigation, we need to independently confirm the phone records,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told The Post on Sunday afternoon.
Full story HERE.
UPDATE: Media outlets are reporting that Smollett has finally provided his phone records to the Chicago Police Department, but it still sounds like they’re hiding something.
“Phone records from Jussie’s manager were sent to police on Feb. 5 and Jussie’s records were sent over this morning. Both were sent to Chief of Staff to the Superintendent of Police Robert Boik, who confirmed receipt,” a spokesperson for the “Empire” star said in an email, 13 days after Smollett alleged he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack.
“We have no reason to doubt the statements, but for a criminal investigation, we need to independently confirm the phone records,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told The Post on Sunday afternoon.
Full story HERE.
posted by Kenneth M. Walsh at 2:49 PM
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