Jussie Smollet - Horrible Hate Crime or Horrible Case of TDS?

[TSwizzle]

Except he wasn't really bruised up in the attack.

I don't think that is important. It could have been a simple verbal confrontation, a slap or something. Enough to get his adrenaline and imagination going to create something out of nothing.

So then he ran out and bought rope and bleach at 2am?

Was there any bleach involved ? I don't know, but both those items are household items that he could already have in his apartment.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I'm not sure why everyone thinks they are absolutely certain what happened; to my eyes, both the original accusation and the counter-accusation look rather dubious and inconsistent in their details.

Don't they have video camera evidence showing Smollet directing the staged attack prior to the attack?

Not exactly. They have a lot of videos of the three guys in question, meeting and interacting at various points, and not of the incident itself.

But that is the point... it would be evidence that implies staging the whole thing.

Smollett's story is not consistent with the facts. But the would-be executors of the plan, if they exist, are not exactly coming out of this clean as a whistle, nor does their story sound entirely credible. If the stories had broken in the opposite order, people would be justifiably skeptical upon hearing that two guys jumped someone and produced a check as proof that they had permission to do so, until they heard Smollett's version and decided it sounded fishy too.

Anyone who knows anything about the history of the Chicago PD, knows that their "certainty" that something happened is not necessarily evidence of wrongdoing.

I think TSwizzle might be onto something regarding the public statements by the Police and the Mayor about the guilty of Smollet tainting the jury pool. That... and the Masonic incantation seem to make the most sense of what appears to be a completely senseless chain of events from the very start.

 

[Tom Sawyer]

So then he ran out and bought rope and bleach at 2am?

Was there any bleach involved ? I don't know, but both those items are household items that he could already have in his apartment.

But why would he carry them with him while going out to get some Subway in the middle of the night? There really isn't a plausible "he didn't do it" scenario. Frigging OJ Simpson is looking at this guy and wondering how the hell he got off because he's so obviously guilty.

 

[TSwizzle]

So then he ran out and bought rope and bleach at 2am?

Was there any bleach involved ? I don't know, but both those items are household items that he could already have in his apartment.

But why would he carry them with him while going out to get some Subway in the middle of the night? There really isn't a plausible "he didn't do it" scenario. Frigging OJ Simpson is looking at this guy and wondering how the hell he got off because he's so obviously guilty.

Didn't the police question Smollett in his apartment, well after the event took place ? I could be wrong but he took his time calling the police, plenty time to get prepared and into character.

 

[dismal]

All this somewhat astonishing speculation that he may be innocent is more argument they should have proven him guilty in a court of law.

Or at least they should bring OJ in to help search for the real killers.

 

[ronburgundy]

So then he ran out and bought rope and bleach at 2am?

Was there any bleach involved ? I don't know, but both those items are household items that he could already have in his apartment.

The documents released by the police (before the DA ordered them to stop informing the public) state that a news reporter found a small bottle near the scene that originally contained hot sauce but was emptied and had bleach residue in it. They turned it into the police, and that the brother who Smollet wrote a check to comfirmed to police that was the bottle they had used.

 

[TSwizzle]

So then he ran out and bought rope and bleach at 2am?

Was there any bleach involved ? I don't know, but both those items are household items that he could already have in his apartment.

The documents released by the police (before the DA ordered them to stop informing the public) state that a news reporter found a small bottle near the scene that originally contained hot sauce but was emptied and had bleach residue in it. They turned it into the police, and that the brother who Smollet wrote a check to comfirmed to police that was the bottle they had used.

I was not aware of that and it sounds iffy. But even so, it still doesn't mean the event was premeditated/conceived by Smollett.

 

[ronburgundy]

The documents released by the police (before the DA ordered them to stop informing the public) state that a news reporter found a small bottle near the scene that originally contained hot sauce but was emptied and had bleach residue in it. They turned it into the police, and that the brother who Smollet wrote a check to comfirmed to police that was the bottle they had used.

I was not aware of that and it sounds iffy. But even so, it still doesn't mean the event was premeditated/conceived by Smollett.

How is it iffy? Why would the men arrested at the airport claim they poured bleach on Smollet, if Smollet did it to himself afterwards as you claimed? Or are you know changing which absurdly implausible excuse for Smollet you are going to use?

And if they poured bleach on him, then it disproves the idea that it was just a normal type assault for money. It supports that what happened did happen as Smollet described, but the only question was whether Smollet was in on it. That question is answered by the fact that he paid them. Also, if Smollet didn't stage it, then it was a premeditated viscous and potentially deadly assault on him. Why wouldn't the DA have those two guys in jail right now and be charging them with a felony? Why wouldn't Smollet be screaming from the mountaintops that the DA do so and put those guys in prison? The only plausible answer is that he and the DA know what the cops and the Grand Jury know, which is that those guys are not guilty of any crime b/c pretending to attack a person who wants you to is not a crime.

 

[TSwizzle]

The documents released by the police (before the DA ordered them to stop informing the public) state that a news reporter found a small bottle near the scene that originally contained hot sauce but was emptied and had bleach residue in it. They turned it into the police, and that the brother who Smollet wrote a check to comfirmed to police that was the bottle they had used.

I was not aware of that and it sounds iffy. But even so, it still doesn't mean the event was premeditated/conceived by Smollett.

How is it iffy? Why would the men arrested at the airport claim they poured bleach on Smollet, if Smollet did it to himself afterwards as you claimed? Or are you know changing which absurdly implausible excuse for Smollet you are going to use?

And if they poured bleach on him, then it disproves the idea that it was just a normal type assault for money. It supports that what happened did happen as Smollet described, but the only question was whether Smollet was in on it. That question is answered by the fact that he paid them. Also, if Smollet didn't stage it, then it was a premeditated viscous and potentially deadly assault on him. Why wouldn't the DA have those two guys in jail right now and be charging them with a felony? Why wouldn't Smollet be screaming from the mountaintops that the DA do so and put those guys in prison? The only plausible answer is that he and the DA know what the cops and the Grand Jury know, which is that those guys are not guilty of any crime b/c pretending to attack a person who wants you to is not a crime.

My first comment on this when it happened was something along the lines of "I think he probably was assaulted but he has added a bit of drama to it". And I think that is still plausible. The brothers have a beef with Smollett, roughed him up a bit and go on their way. Smollett then concocts a bizarre story about white guys, MAGA hats, rope and bleach for publicity thinking the brothers won't get questioned because Smollett says his assailants are white and the brothers are black etc. And as it all starts to unravel, Smollett's claims are obviously bullshit, but the brothers, in order to cover their ass, tell the police another bizarre version of events that they were hired as a stunt and the DA is left with a pile of poo.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Just had another thought here--did the police perhaps fuck up with the evidence? They know their case is actually weak because something is going to be inadmissible?

 

[ronburgundy]

Just had another thought here--did the police perhaps fuck up with the evidence? They know their case is actually weak because something is going to be inadmissible?

The DA would have just said that and avoided any backlash against them, rather than saying that the evidence was sound, the police did a great job, but they just don't think it's worth prosecuting a non-violent crime.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Just had another thought here--did the police perhaps fuck up with the evidence? They know their case is actually weak because something is going to be inadmissible?

The DA would have just said that and avoided any backlash against them, rather than saying that the evidence was sound, the police did a great job, but they just don't think it's worth prosecuting a non-violent crime.

If they were involved in the fuck-up, though?

 

[dismal]

Just had another thought here--did the police perhaps fuck up with the evidence? They know their case is actually weak because something is going to be inadmissible?

The DA would have just said that and avoided any backlash against them, rather than saying that the evidence was sound, the police did a great job, but they just don't think it's worth prosecuting a non-violent crime.

If they were involved in the fuck-up, though?

What fuck-up?

What could it have possibly been?

 

[blastula]

If they tainted the evidence, they wouldn't be asking for an investigation now.

 

[Derec]

Former NFL player pulls a Smollett in Gwinnett County, GA.

Ex-pro football player accused of staging racially motivated burglary in Gwinnett

A former NFL player was arrested after allegedly destroying his Gwinnett County business and spray-painting slurs on his walls to make it appear he was the victim of a racially motivated burglary.
Gwinnett police arrested Edawn Louis Coughman, 31, on charges of false report of a crime, insurance fraud and concealing a license plate. About 9:30 p.m. Wednesday, officers were dispatched to a burglary call at the Create and Bake Restaurant and Coughman’s Creamery on Duluth Highway in unincorporated Lawrenceville, Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Michele Pihera said Friday in a news release.
[..]
“Officers saw racially motivated words, swastikas, and ‘MAGA,’” Pihera said. “Several booth cushions were sliced open. They also found broken mirrors, cut wires and a damaged video surveillance system. The smell of spray paint was very fresh. When officers touched it, the paint appeared wet.”

Not too bright, that one.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

They found the "stolen" TVs in the back of his vehicle a few days later with the plaster still on the brackets.

There was a witness to him vandalizing his own shop.

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

Well, this is so strange, because America has never had a history of white people blaming their crimes on blacks. And arresting them. And railroading them. And imprisoning them. And letting them rot in jail in spite of being completely innocent. And everyone involved knows they're completely innocent and thus complicit in their mistreatment, torture and often times death.

But hey, that's all whataboutism; pointing to the mountain of systemic crimes compared to the mole-hill of copy-cat one-offs. Look at the mole-hill, never the mountain. That's sacrosanct.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

How is this guy vandalizing his own businesses "white people blaming their crimes on blacks"?

Or is it the fault of racism that he was so bad at vandalizing his own businesses?

 

[Koyaanisqatsi]

How is this guy vandalizing his own businesses "white people blaming their crimes on blacks"?

 

[Tom Sawyer]

Well, this is so strange, because America has never had a history of white people blaming their crimes on blacks. And arresting them. And railroading them. And imprisoning them. And letting them rot in jail in spite of being completely innocent. And everyone involved knows they're completely innocent and thus complicit in their mistreatment, torture and often times death.

But hey, that's all whataboutism; pointing to the mountain of systemic crimes compared to the mole-hill of copy-cat one-offs. Look at the mole-hill, never the mountain. That's sacrosanct.

Yes. This is the literal definition of whataboutism. Why you would think it's somehow more valid or on point than any of the other instances of whataboutism is unclear.

However, multiple people (including me) have responded to your derail so ... good job, I guess?