Actor Jussie Smollett outside a Cook County IL, Court yesterday. Getty Images
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is furious. Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson says justice was not served and people very close to former President Obama are now under scrutiny after it emerged that messages between them and Cook County prosecutors were exchanged before actor Jussie Smollett walked free yesterday with all charges against him officially dropped.
Speaking at a press conference Chicago's Mayor said “Is there no decency in this man? Mr. Smollett is still saying that he is innocent. … How dare he?” And Emanuel was far from done. "Where is the accountability in the system? You cannot have – because of a person's position – one set of rules applies to them and another set of rules apply to everyone else. Our officers did hard work day in and day out, countless hours working to unwind what actually happened that night. The city saw its reputation dragged through the mud...It's not just the officers' work, but the work of the grand jury that made a decision based on only a sliver of the evidence [presented]. Because of the judge's decision, none of that evidence will ever be made public."
And later during a CNN appearance he was clearly not over it. “It makes no sense,” he told Wolf Blitzer. “It makes no legal sense. It makes no common sense. And this is an abomination of my sense of justice.”
Chicago cops are similarly unimpressed. Superintendent Eddie Johnson called it a 'Whitewash of Justice' and continued: ""At the end of the day it was Smollett who committed this hoax."
Now the Chicago Sun Times seems to believe strings were pulled by Michelle Obama's former Chief of Staff, Tina Tchen.
Originally Smollett told police he was attacked by two masked men as he was walking home from a sandwich store at 2am. He said this took place on January 29. The black and gay actor said he was beaten by masked men and had a noose put round his neck. He said the men shouted "This is MAGA country" as they beat him. After an extensive investigation, police arrived at the conclusion that none of that happened and that Smollett had faked the entire thing. A Grand Jury came down with 16 indictments.
What do you think? Did he walk free because he's innocent as he continues to claim?
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