The actor Jussie Smollett, famous for starring in the series Empire, was accused of a false attack. The police of Chicago state that the actor staged this attack for self-promotion. Moreover, Chicago’s police claimed that this case disturbed them from other incidents of higher importance. As a result, the government required a large amount of money to cover the investigation costs for the false attack. However, thousands of Smollett’s fans do not believe in the official police’s version and support the actor on social networks requiring a case’s revision. Many arguments prove the actor’s innocence, and it is essential to understand what happened to prove the innocence of Jussie Smollett in this case.
In January 2019, Jussie Smollett reported that he was walking along the street and was acquired by two unknown men, who screamed various racist and homophobic accusations toward the actor. Moreover, these attackers hit Smollett’s face and poured bleach (Jussie Smollett Back). Then, two men put a rope on his neck and finally ran away. The Chicago Police Department immediately started investigating the case due to Smollett’s allegations’ severe nature (McDonald). Someone also sent the actor threatening letters; the incident was called a hate crime by the media. It is possible to consider this fact because unknown people threatened Smollett. His position in LGBTQ support became reason to think the incident was a hate attack on the actor.
This incident became a shock for the public and particularly Smollett’s fans. The actor gave an interview on the ABC channel and confirmed committing the crime (McDonald). Some days later, the police found a video where Smollett was depicted with two unknown men. The police department decided to mark this incident as a staged and fake crime; moreover, the actor was accused of 16 crimes after his alleged lies to the police (McDonald). There were no clear arguments why the police department decided to mark this incident as a fake, which became suspicious in Smollett’s case. It seems that this obscure detail gives strangeness to the police’s actions and undermines their authority in the investigation.
The police also presented vague statements in public speech. For example, it was stated that Smollett sent fake letters to himself, which contained various threats (Francescani). Any facts did not prove this statement, and it might be the police’s suggestions only. Moreover, in this case, one strange detail was that the police department decided to annul all accusations against Smollett in March of the same year. Later, it became apparent that the police did it to prepare a new portion of charges for the actor. Accordingly, the actor turns out to be a victim of police suggestions and imaginary facts.
Usually, the police department does not stop investigating criminal incidents to reopen the case. It is also unclear why the actor was accused of sixteen crimes that he ostensibly committed before 2019. There is a definition of false report and compliance in the criminal justice system; it is defined that compliance is wrong when the suggested victim confuses the arguments. Moreover, the accusation is fake; if the victim reported the fact of the crime before the actual time of commitment, then the incident is intentionally false (Zutter et al. 11). From the police’s side, it is impossible to state that the accusations are wrong, as they did not have any arguments to support their statement. It is what happened to Smollett; he was convinced of staging the attack, but the police did not have ideas to prove it.
Moreover, it is essential to look at the actor’s behavior through lying and deceit crime through the prism of the psychology of liars. For example, the interview he gave to ABC channel clearly shows that he repeats all arguments he stated in the police department in precise detail. He would probably confuse some details if he were lying, as it is almost impossible to learn all lies by heart. Accordingly, it is vital to note that Smollett does not seem to be deceitful; he behaves calmly, looks into the interviewer’s eyes, and is free to answer the interviewer’s questions (The Strangeness of Jussie). The psychology of criminal investigations suggests if the person lies, his behavior is confused, gestures are sharp, and the voice is trembling (Turvey et al. 290). These are not characteristics of Smollett’s television interview, and they might prove his innocence and truth in his statements.
What is more, the actor is an active supporter of the LGBTQ community. Nowadays, people struggle with those who support such groups, which sometimes results in abuse and discrimination. There is no wonder if the reason for Smollett’s incident is his involvement in the LGBTQ movement. Unfortunately, some group members have not achieved awareness of this issue and still blame others for expressing themselves. The active position in minor communities might become a reason for the fight, and Smollett had nothing to answer in his support.
Overall, there are many reasons for releasing the actor and freeing him from accusations. After analyzing some research on the psychology of liars and legal action, it is possible to say that there are more vague actions from the police’s side than from the actor. The criminal incident was apparent, and for some reason, the police changed their activities several times. In addition, their actions are strange from the point of view of police professionalism. Moreover, they did not want to handle the case and, once rejected it, ultimately. It is also essential that Jussie Smollett was brought charges that he might not commit, and these accusations were not related to the actual case. As seen, there are many reasons for freeing the actor from charges.
Works Cited
The Strangeness of Jussie Smollett’s Alleged Attack – YouTube, uploaded by The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, 2019, Web.
Associated Press. Jussie Smollett Back in Court for Hearing about His Lawyer. WTTW, 2021, Web.
Francescani, Chris. What happened? Timeline of Investigation into Jussie Smollett’s Attack Claim. ABC News, 2019, Web.
McDonald, Natalie Hope. All Your Questions about Jussie Smollett’s New Indictment, Answered.Vulture, 2020, Web.
Turvey, Brent, et al. False Allegations: Investigative and Forensic Issues in Fraudulent Reports of Crime. 1st ed., Academic Press, 2017.
Zutter, André W. E. A., et al. “Filing False Vice Reports: Distinguishing True from False Allegations of Rape.” The European Journal of Psychology Applied to Legal Context, vol. 9, no. 1, 2017, pp. 1–14. Crossref, Web.