CNN: Questions As To Whether Jussie Smollett Faked Attack (1 Viewer)

[Joe Bryant]

From CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/16/entertainment/jussie-smollett-attack/index.html

I said in the other thread, I always want us to be a place where accusations for an attack or issue are taken seriously. Regardless of what "side" it's from. 

But on the other hand, staging an attack or untrue accusations are serious as well. 

Per CNN, there now appears to be significant questions with Smollett's incident.

From CNN:

Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation tell CNN that Chicago Police believe actor Jussie Smollett paid two men to orchestrate an assault on him that he reported late last month.

Smollett denies playing a role in his attack, according to a statement from his attorneys.

Please be cool and discuss this respectfully. 

 

[DocHolliday]

It's Trumps fault no matter how the fake attack unfolded.  

 

[Dedfin]

Who

 

[Joe Bryant]

Question for LegalGuys. What type of punishment or sentence is involved for a person who stages a fake attack?

Is it different for a hate crime than it would be for another type of crime?

In other words, from a legal angle, how much trouble is someone in that stages a fake attack?

 

[Sinn Fein]

Question for LegalGuys. What type of punishment or sentence is involved for a person who stages a fake attack?

Is it different for a hate crime than it would be for another type of crime?

In other words, from a legal angle, how much trouble is someone in that stages a fake attack?

Staging an attack is not really a legal problem.

filing a false police report is a legal problem. 

 

[Tom Skerritt]

From CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/16/entertainment/jussie-smollett-attack/index.html

I said in the other thread, I always want us to be a place where accusations for an attack or issue are taken seriously. Regardless of what "side" it's from. 

But on the other hand, staging an attack or untrue accusations are serious as well. 

Per CNN, there now appears to be significant questions with Smollett's incident.

From CNN:

Please be cool and discuss this respectfully. 

What do you mean “now”? There were serious questions with this incident when it was first reported. And what does this have to do with sides? Obviously guys like GoBirds, Ren, and jon are going to run with it. But myself and others from the “other side” were pretty skeptical about this too. 

Are you just trying to stir this up? Not sure what your point is. 

 

[Joe Bryant]

Staging an attack is not really a legal problem.

filing a false police report is a legal problem. 

Thanks. 

What kind of punishment is involved if one files a false police report of an attack?

 

[Sinn Fein]

Thanks. 

What kind of punishment is involved if one files a false police report of an attack?

You'll have to wait for some of the criminal lawyers to wake up - but given the attention, and resources devoted to this, I would expect them to go after Smollett pretty hard here - assuming they can prove the charges were false. (I did not read the article to know where they are on that now.  I assume the two men brought in for questioning have told police that Smollett paid them to stage the attack. I think Smollett has denied that - all about credibility and money trail now).

 

[GoBirds]

Unfortunately it’s hard to be surprised by this if true in these times. Unhinged and sad but not surprising.  

 

[Widbil83]

What do you mean “now”? There were serious questions with this incident when it was first reported. And what does this have to do with sides? Obviously guys like GoBirds, Ren, and jon are going to run with it. But myself and others from the “other side” were pretty skeptical about this too. 

Are you just trying to stir this up? Not sure what your point is. 

Sure some of you Democrats were skeptical, but the media, Hollywood and nearly every Democrat candidate 2020 jumped on this and weaponized it against Trump and Republicans right away no questions asked.  That is the problem here.  

I posted AOC’s absurd hot take about this on Thursday in her thread when these reports were breaking, and Tim didn’t believe it because Jussie was just on Good Morning America and “seemed believable.”  The media was still running cover for this guy 3 days ago and allowing him to paint this false narrative.

 

[Da Guru]

This is a very disturbing story to say the least.   My niece is gay and lives right around there..she moved there because it is a very gay friendly area. When this was first reported she was mortified because those types of incidents never happen in that area or are very rare.

The question is why on each would Smolett do this? Unconfirmed Rumor this morning was he was being written out of the show Empire and wanted a big publicity stunt.

Now do Booker and Harris have to come out and speak on reporting false hate crimes?   This is a big mess right now.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Question for LegalGuys. What type of punishment or sentence is involved for a person who stages a fake attack?

Is it different for a hate crime than it would be for another type of crime?

In other words, from a legal angle, how much trouble is someone in that stages a fake attack?

It's a Class IV felony in Illinois that can carry a sentence of up to 3 years.  It's a serious matter (but he hasn't been charged with anything yet).

 

[timschochet]

Couple of thoughts: 

1. It should be noted that Smollett angrily denies that this was a fake attack. I am not defending him here; from what I read it certainly sounds damning for him. But as I mentioned in another thread, we can’t be 100% sure at this point. 

2. Besides the fact that Smollett was a celebrity, the main reason that this was a big story in the first place is that there is a widespread contention, among many of us opposed to President Trump, that his rhetoric has increased bigotry in this country, has “unleashed” previously hidden feelings- against blacks, Latinos, Muslims, less so homosexuals and Jews but perhaps some of that as well. How much of this manifests itself in the form of violence is open to question, but personally I continue to believe in the overall contention. This particular incident, which I found horrifying when I believed it to be true, did not strengthen my overall belief in the increase of bigotry, and now that I believe it to be false does not weaken my overall belief either. 

 

[Joe Bryant]

This particular incident, which I found horrifying when I believed it to be true, did not strengthen my overall belief in the increase of bigotry, and now that I believe it to be false does not weaken my overall belief either. 




 

I don't understand this. If this high profile, seemingly extreme, case of bigotry were true, how could it not strengthen your overall belief this kind of stuff was happening?

Do you have some other sort of evidence bigotry was decreasing to counter the increasing events?

 

[timschochet]

I don't understand this. If this high profile, seemingly extreme, case of bigotry were true, how could it not strengthen your overall belief this kind of stuff was happening?

Do you have some other sort of evidence bigotry was decreasing to counter the increasing events?

First off, my contention is that the increase of bigotry is more feeling than it is incident- I’m honestly not sure how much it manifests itself in actual acts of violence and that was an issue I was questioning a long time prior to this incident. 

Second, I’m not much into anecdotes one way or another. As I’ve expressed many times in this forum, I don’t like the fact that we as as a society allow anecdotes to shape so much of our thinking on issues and this is absolutely true of liberals and conservatives alike. I’m certainly as susceptible as anybody else, but I try to rely on statistics in forming my opinions if I can help it. 

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Did Smollett ever go to the hospital? The details of working how he tried this if it was staged are more difficult than if it wasn’t. It seems blazingly stupid.

This position in society where you ‘must believe x’ because of the nature of the crime is not a good thing. It’s dogmatic and ideological.

 

[Tom Skerritt]

This position in society where you ‘must believe x’ because of the nature of the crime is not a good thing. It’s dogmatic and ideological.

Totally agree. We have swung the pendulum too far. I get why it’s happened, but the result is just as bad, if not worse. 

 

[whoknew]

I've seen a number of posters say the media is to blame here. That they "jumped on this, " "weaponized it," and should be ashamed.

I don't really understand that view, so if anyone with it could explain further, I'd appreciate it. It seems to me that the media reported the story when it happened and then continued to report facts as they became known. I'm not sure what else they were supposed to do.

Unless, of course, when you say "media," you mean the talking heads on nightly cable news. That may be true, I don't know. I was thinking of the news reporters - CNN, WaPo, NYT, Tribune - things like that.

 

[avoiding injuries]

I think most people when they heard this story had a lot of skepticism. The reports from the “media” did not express the same skepticism. 

 

[avoiding injuries]

I think most people when they heard this story had a lot of skepticism. The reports from the “media” did not express the same skepticism. 

There also seems to be a recent pattern with Kavanaugh, Covington and now Jussie where the media undoubtedly chose the wrong side of the truth to promote. 

 

[Ketamine Dreams]

If he is responsible for faking an attack on himself then he has a lot of mental health issues that need addressing. He should be on suicide watch because it would be a career ender if he lied about all of this. 

 

[Courtjester]

And what will be very interesting is will this get the same coverage if found to be staged or will it quickly fall off the front page. CNN has a history of doing this when their creation proves to be false.

 

[AAABatteries]

My thought is both sides will try to use this story as some kind of point to prove the other side is horrible and hypocritical when in reality all this proves (if true) is that the guy staging it is an idiot.

 

[sho nuff]

There also seems to be a recent pattern with Kavanaugh, Covington and now Jussie where the media undoubtedly chose the wrong side of the truth to promote. 

Wrong side in Kavanaugh?  Even the others...the media seems to report the information as it’s given to them and confirmed by sources. 

and immediately once other information was known, they retract and correct (as they did with Covington)

This isn’t some oh the media is bad and out to get us all thing IMO

 

[sho nuff]

And what will be very interesting is will this get the same coverage if found to be staged or will it quickly fall off the front page. CNN has a history of doing this when their creation proves to be false.

They do? There was a huge controversy when they retracted a story and fired 3 people (the story, btw was proven to be correct).

The retraction from any source is usually not as big as the original story.  And oh btw the post starting this thread is a link to CNN

 

[GoBirds]

There also seems to be a recent pattern with Kavanaugh, Covington and now Jussie where the media undoubtedly chose the wrong side of the truth to promote. 

It’s a clear pattern which is why many tune them out. 

 

[timschochet]

There also seems to be a recent pattern with Kavanaugh, Covington and now Jussie where the media undoubtedly chose the wrong side of the truth to promote. 

This is your interpretation and I suspect it is shared by many conservatives and those who believe that the mainstream media has a liberal bias. It should come as no surprise to you that I didn’t interpret it that way. 

The news media reported the Smollett story without skepticism, but I don’t think they reported it in a way that suggests “We absolutely believe it” either. Same with Kavanaugh and Covington. In each case, IMO they reported the news the way they were given it by various sources without bias or opinion. I say they acted properly. 

 

[timschochet]

It’s a clear pattern which is why many tune them out. 

The people that tune them out are the ones with the bias, IMO. And very few really tune them out all of the time. 

 

[timschochet]

And oh btw the post starting this thread is a link to CNN

Which gives it credibility. If the story that this was a hoax was only being reported in, say, the Washington Examiner, nobody would be discussing it (including conservatives.) 

 

[[scooter]]

Unfortunately it’s hard to be surprised by this if true in these times. Unhinged and sad but not surprising.  

Mort Downey says 

 

[Henry Ford]

Thanks. 

What kind of punishment is involved if one files a false police report of an attack?

In Illinois I believe it’s a Class 4 Felony -Disorderly Conduct. He could get 3 years in prison. 

 

[Henry Ford]

Did Smollett ever go to the hospital? The details of working how he tried this if it was staged are more difficult than if it wasn’t. It seems blazingly stupid.

This position in society where you ‘must believe x’ because of the nature of the crime is not a good thing. It’s dogmatic and ideological.

I’m a firm believer in “trust, but verify.”

 

[Plorfu]

I'm certainly glad to see the liberal media finally expose the liberal media once and for all. 

 

[parasaurolophus]

Which gives it credibility. If the story that this was a hoax was only being reported in, say, the Washington Examiner, nobody would be discussing it (including conservatives.) 

Only because you wouldnt want to talk about it. Local chicago reporters have been pointing out inconsistencies since the beginning. Rafer weigel and rob elgas have pretty much devoted their twitter feeds to this. 

 

[sho nuff]

The people that tune them out are the ones with the bias, IMO. And very few really tune them out all of the time. 

The people that time them out would be doing so anyway...because Donald told them to...and they don’t tune out sources who are far more biased and have been wrong or posting outright lies more often.  People that use CIS as a source, GatewayPundit...even FoxNews

 

[GoBirds]

The people that tune them out are the ones with the bias, IMO. And very few really tune them out all of the time. 

Welcome to your opinion and I think everyone in here knows you do everything you can to buy into anything anti Trump. You aren’t alone, it’s the norm in here. 

 

[timschochet]

Welcome to your opinion and I think everyone in here knows you do everything you can to buy into anything anti Trump. You aren’t alone, it’s the norm in here. 

My view on the media really has nothing to do with Donald Trump and was formed long before he came on to the scene. I suspect that’s the same with you, isn’t it? 

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

It wouldn't have been easy in any age but in this age hoaxes, in a major city, are harder than ever to perpetrate. Businesses, hotels, homes, street intersections all have cameras interspersed pretty evenly. Whoever it was who masterminded this it's just insipidly stupid to not realize the police would be tracking the alleged perpetrators with maximum effort and everywhere given this guy's profile. This is dumb like thinking you need another hole in your head is dumb.

 

[zoonation]

There also seems to be a recent pattern with Kavanaugh, Covington and now Jussie where the media undoubtedly chose the wrong side of the truth to promote. 

Kavanaugh?  I don’t get it.  

 

[ShamrockPride]

Couple of thoughts: 

1. It should be noted that Smollett angrily denies that this was a fake attack. I am not defending him here; from what I read it certainly sounds damning for him. But as I mentioned in another thread, we can’t be 100% sure at this point. 

Can't entirely remember so hopefully you or some others can help me out here: were you this patient in holding off judgement of the MAGA hat kid too?

I know others around here certainly weren't.

 

[parasaurolophus]

This twitter thread is very annoying. People actually get mad when you aren't outraged enough at these scenarios. The very first comment is an actress. 

 

[Nipsey]

It wouldn't have been easy in any age but in this age hoaxes, in a major city, are harder than ever to perpetrate. Businesses, hotels, homes, street intersections all have cameras interspersed pretty evenly. Whoever it was who masterminded this it's just insipidly stupid to not realize the police would be tracking the alleged perpetrators with maximum effort and everywhere given this guy's profile. This is dumb like thinking you need another hole in your head is dumb.

I agree with you but it in this case seems like his phone is what did him in, no? Too bad Bobby Baccala got clipped. He would have been the perfect guy to hire for this. One in the fleshy part of the thigh and Smollett would have been selling out shows for life.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

I agree with you but it in this case seems like his phone is what did him in, no? Too bad Bobby Baccala got clipped. He would have been the perfect guy to hire for this. One in the fleshy part of the thigh and Smollett would have been selling out shows for life.

I think you’re right, he was calling his manager, not the cops, right? And then he wouldn’t turn over his phone records?

 

[sho nuff]

This twitter thread is very annoying. People actually get mad when you aren't outraged enough at these scenarios. The very first comment is an actress. 

After the "possible homophobic and racially charged attack."

Id like to see the original reporting as well...did they all call it "possible" or report as if it was in fact racially motivated?

 

[Da Guru]

This seems like a well planned hoax..the brothers get paid by Smollett and then were on a plane out of the area.

The bigger question is why would Smollett plan this fake attack?

 

[timschochet]

Can't entirely remember so hopefully you or some others can help me out here: were you this patient in holding off judgement of the MAGA hat kid too?

I know others around here certainly weren't.

No. I was not. Nor was I on this matter either. As Henry Ford and Joe Bryant and many others have pointed out, I often succumb to confirmation bias. When news come out that confirms my opinions I am eager to accept it. When news contradicts my opinions I am less eager, though I’d like to think that eventually I will. And I often call out other people for double standards that I don’t apply to myself. 

But I don’t think my personal weaknesses should serve as justification for anyone else’s. We all need to strive to do better. 

 

[OrtonToOlsen]

I agree with you but it in this case seems like his phone is what did him in, no? Too bad Bobby Baccala got clipped. He would have been the perfect guy to hire for this. One in the fleshy part of the thigh and Smollett would have been selling out shows for life.

My ###! They shot me in my ###!

 

[Nipsey]

I think you’re right, hecwas calling his manager, not the cops, right? And then he wouldn’t turn over his phone records?

I think so. Bottom line, if you're going to try to pull something like this off you do it alone, no conspirators. Too many moving parts. Too many potential pitfalls. You go the Morton Downey jr. route but shave the swastika in the right direction.

 

[pantherclub]

From CNN.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/16/entertainment/jussie-smollett-attack/index.html

I said in the other thread, I always want us to be a place where accusations for an attack or issue are taken seriously. Regardless of what "side" it's from. 

But on the other hand, staging an attack or untrue accusations are serious as well. 

Per CNN, there now appears to be significant questions with Smollett's incident.

From CNN:

Please be cool and discuss this respectfully. 

It didnt pass the smell test from the jump.  People took this "accusation" and went full light speed without any thought behind it. 

 

[Joe Bryant]

Daily Beast reporting the brothers were extras on the Empire set and they actually rehearsed it?

https://www.thedailybeast.com/jussie-smollett-allegedly-paid-empire-extras-to-stage-attack-cops-say?via=newsletter&source=Weekend

“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett allegedly paid two brothers $3,500 to stage an assault against him, going so far as to rehearse the attack with them, police sources told CBS Chicago.