【Uschi Karnat】

Source：Co-creation Information Network Editor：Science Time：2025-06-26 20:57:32

UPDATE: Feb. 21,Uschi Karnat 2019, 11:54 a.m. EST A statement from 20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment has been included below.

Jussie Smollett, the Empire actor who alleged he was the victim of a hate crime in January, turned himself into the police Thursday morning for filing a false police report.

Smollett allegedly orchestrated a false hate crime against himself using two individuals he paid $3,500 to attack him using racial, homophobic, and political language and symbols, Chicago Police Department superintendent Eddie Johnson said in a news briefing Thursday.

According to the police, Smollett orchestrated the attack because he was dissatisfied with his salary.

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Smollett was charged with disorderly conduct for filing a false police report, which according to CBS Chicagocould see Smollett facing up to one and a half years in prison.

The two brothers who helped stage the attack, Ola and Abel Osundairo, testified to a grand jury on Wednesday and have been released without charges. According to phone records, Smollett spoke to the brothers on the phone about an hour before the attack and also after the attack.

SEE ALSO: Gender may be the biggest cause of hate crime against women, new data shows

During the news briefing, Johnson expressed his anger at Smollett for creating this publicity stunt and taking advantage of very real hatred against people and suffering of those people for personal gain.

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"How can an individual who's been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in this city in the face by making these false claims," Johnson said.

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Along with staging the attack, Johnson said Smollett also sent a fake letter using similarly racial, homophobic, and political language to the Empireset days before the attack.

On Wednesday night, Smollett's attorney released a statement saying they would be aggressively defending Smollett.

“Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked," the statement reads. "Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense.”

20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment to Mashable, saying, "We understand the seriousness of this matter and we respect the legal process. We are evaluating the situation and we are considering our options."

Johnson also brought up the fact that he wished the media gave as much attention to victims of gun violence as they did to this one particular case with Smollett.

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"Before I get started I look out into the crowd, I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention because that's who really deserves the amount of attention that we are giving to this particular in distinct," Johnson said

Johnson noted that the investigation into Smollett did not defer any resources from investigations into violent crimes.

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