On Feb. 25, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson made his third TV appearance in 12 hours, talking to CNN host Don Lemon about the Jussie Smollett case. Superintendent Johnson has been on a media tour since he announced Smollett’s arrest on Feb. 21, talking about details of the case and presuming Smollett’s guilt.
Smollett co-stars on “Empire,” a hit TV series by Philadelphian Lee Daniels. Smollett and Daniels are out gay black men. Smollett plays a gay man in the series.
Smollett has been charged with disorderly conduct and filing a false police report. In January, Smollett told the police that he had been assaulted by two men who put a noose around his neck, poured a liquid on him while they yelled homophobic and racist slurs at him.
The charges against Smollett could end in a jail sentence and fine. The maximum sentence for filing a false report is three years.
Two men were arrested in the alleged attack, brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo. The brothers have claimed that Smollett paid them to stage the attack and were released without charge.
The Smollett story has been a national headline. Politicians like presidential candidates Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Cory Booker (D-NJ) have had to walk back their support for Smollett.
Yet the actor insists the assault occurred and has never altered his story.
After his attorneys posted his bail, Smollett went back to the “Empire” set to tearfully declare his innocence. It was reported that Smollett told cast and crew, “I’m sorry I’ve put you all through this and not answered any calls. I wanted to say I’m sorry and, you know me, I would never do this to any of you, you are my family. I swear to God, I did not do this.”
We don’t know if the attack was staged or not. What we do know is that it is dangerous to be black and LGBTQ in America. I have written extensively for PGN and other national publications about violence against LGBTQ people. There is a virtual epidemic of violence against trans women of color, with nearly every such murder a black victim.
According to the most recent FBI report on hate crimes in 2017, race is the primary source at 59.6 percent and sexual orientation is 15.8 percent. HRC reports that black LGBTQ people are more at risk from both hate crimes and violence from police.
A 2018 report by California State University at San Bernardino asserted, “since federal record keeping began, race was the most common category, constituting 57 percent of all hate crimes, with African Americans being the single most targeted group at 28.4 percent” and “the next most frequent targets involved sexual orientation at 17.6 percent.”
How many black queers are there in America? The instances of violent hate crimes far outnumber the demographics. What’s more, the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino details that of 21,000 hate crimes reported in the past two years, fewer than 50 were false reports. That’s .002 percent.
Certainly if Smollett did perpetrate a hoax, it raises questions about why. But with the only blemish on his record a DUI arrest 12 years ago when he was in college, it’s difficult to envision the why of such a hoax.
What’s not hard to imagine is why Smollett is being treated like a hardened criminal: he’s black and he’s gay. In 2016, Olympian Ryan Lochte received far different treatment for a similar false report during the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro. Lochte, the second most medaled male swimmer in Olympic history, claimed that he and fellow swimmers were robbed at gunpoint in a taxi by Latino men. Prosecutors asserted Lochte invented the story to cover up the swimmers’ vandalism of a gas station and an ensuing confrontation with security guards, all of which was captured by surveillance cameras.
Lochte later admitted he had been drunk and he was the instigator of the fight.
Lochte was never charged with any crime. Within nine days of his arrest, Lochte was contracted for “Dancing with the Stars.” In January, Lochte was again on TV, this time on “Celebrity Big Brother.”
Smollett’s bail was set at $100,000 — the standard amount for voluntary manslaughter. Lochte’s was $1,000. Lochte created an international racist incident at the Olympics. It can be argued that the person most hurt in the Smollett incident, if it is indeed a hoax, is the actor himself.
On Feb. 22, Smollett was suspended from “Empire.” Daniels and other producers on the show issued a statement, which reads in part, “We care about [Jussie] deeply. While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system. … To avoid further disruption on set, we have decided to remove the role of ‘Jamal’ from the final two episodes of the season.”
Hate crimes must be taken seriously. False reports give others — particularly law enforcement — permission to dismiss attacks on vulnerable communities. If Smollett is guilty, he deserves the same treatment as his straight white counterparts — contracts with “Dancing with the Stars” and “Celebrity Big Brother,” and an opportunity to remind those who would try him in the court of public opinion that if there wasn’t so much bias in America, none of this might ever have happened.