CNN: New evidence suggests Jussie Smollett orchestrated attack (Check Threadmarks / Staff Posts) (UPDATE: Now a suspect)

Phonzo · Feb 16, 2019

The weirdest part of the story was never the weather, or the noose, or the bleach.

Its is simply how you can anticipate someone walking out of their apartment building at 2am. Assuming it is preplanned, you think 2 guys said to themselves, hey lets wait for Jussie at 2am in the morning when he will leave his building and we will get him then, AND get it right? You just cant predict this stuff.

drog · Feb 16, 2019

were people seriously being banned over questioning the validity of this story? sounded fraudulent from the jump...smh.

Benji · Feb 16, 2019

The Kree said:
Targeted hate crimes happen. Milo Yiannopolis is known for doing it to unfamous trans students at colleges.

Its more the whole combination of everything

- It being at 2 am on one of the coldest nights of the year
- him randomly going to Subway at that time
- These guys happening to be waiting at that exact moment in below freezing temperatures
- Them having a bottle of bleach and a noose handy on them
- Screaming "MAGA Country" in Chicago of all places

Its just a very strange story, and seemed weird from the start. Not impossible of course, hate crimes absolutely happen in this country. If his story had been he was doing an appearance somewhere and some racist asshole spit at him and called him a slur I wouldn't doubt it for a second, as that happens constantly. But this particular story was just very strange from the jump

mercenar1e · Feb 16, 2019

drog said:
were people seriously being banned over questioning the validity of this story? sounded fraudulent from the jump...smh.

of course.. haven't you noticed how things are like around here? lol

i wouldn't be surprised to see him facing charges any day now.

Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

lmao he had this tweet ready to go

Vilix · Feb 16, 2019

SRTtoZ said:
Tbh it always seemed made up. Glad it's finally coming out. I just wanna know why he did this.

I thought his story was pretty believable given how violent MAGA people have been. That's why I find this so surprising.

Deleted member 1248 · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

You means it's continuing. America is no different today than it was yesterday.

julian · Feb 16, 2019

Typhonsentra said:
I swear this place is filled with the most stubborn people, why is it so hard for some people to admit they were wrong? No one is currently nor was in the previous thread saying racism is not a significant issue in this country nor are they saying that hate crimes against people of color do not happen regularly.

It's pretty clear some people have no desire to introspect. Being hostile to other posters in an obviously confusing story doesn't make you a righteous warrior - it makes you an asshole. (Royal you)

And to be clear, that's not a comment on the mods. Some of the banned users I saw were banned because they were previously banned and then came back and wouldn't drop the subject or were being hostile.

Even after this I'm still confused about a few things:

1) if he hired the guys, why did he supposedly confirm they were the attackers? That would obviously lead back to him

2) the only motive presented by the news was that he was going to get fired and that was swiftly denied by Fox. If they were right about it being a hoax, how'd they get that so wrong? Was it not wrong?

It's clearly sounding more like a hoax, but those two things still bug me.

Vilix · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

Takes one to know one???

Maximum Spider · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

"First they came after our precious children and now this! Trump supporters are more likely to become the victims of a hate crimes than any other political party in history!"

Papa Satanás · Feb 16, 2019

Ah crap.

Chaos-Theory · Feb 16, 2019

Amiablepercy said:
Dude... a political statement? Are you seriously going to reach that far?

For someone who supposedly makes a lot of money, you have a hard time with reading comprehension.

He or she was offering a possibility, not an excuse.

The Flop · Feb 16, 2019

The Kree said:
You means it's continuing. America is no different today than it was yesterday.

You know other than we now 99% most likely have someone faking a hate crime...

entremet · Feb 16, 2019

The Kree said:
Targeted hate crimes happen. Milo Yiannopolis is known for doing it to unfamous trans students at colleges.

For sure. I'm still waiting for this to conclude as well. Not looking good for Jussie, though. But it's when all those facts add up, that you start wondering about the weirdness of it all.

Personally, I believed the original story, but thought it was weird. Many people did. I never thought it would get here. Nor am I thinking "told you so". If this story ends up the way it is looking, it will be a tragedy on many levels. Jussie seemed to be a very stand up guy outside of this. His reputation will be shattered along with hurting victims of hate crimes going forward.

Linkura · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

He totally did it just to make Trump supporters look bad. /s

Jr is such an idiot and I can't wait till he's in jail.

Doom_Bringer · Feb 16, 2019

his story sounded fishy to me from the beginning. I didn't comment on the original thread cause I didn't wanna get banned. I guess my intuition was correct

floridaguy954 · Feb 16, 2019

Michael F. Assbender said:
To believe Smollett (a man who, if things play out how they appear to be playing out, is a massive liar) over the police and the Nigerian brothers they interviewed and obtained evidence from, appears to me to be ignoring facts because fiction is more comfortable.

As someone else in this thread, I sure hope you hold this exact stance of innocent until proven guilty for every person accused of a crime (including Smollett's "attackers"). Otherwise it's pretty hypocritical.

Let's just say I'll believe a victim of assault over the attacker until the facts come out.

I have no problem condemning Smollett if the accusations against him are true. He would be fucking over so many real victims of assault.

Equating that to meaning I'll defend the alleged attackers as well is a big goddamn stretch. This is all I will say on the matter.

Landy828 · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

Is he still hiding in Canada?

Z-Beat · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

You can make yourself look bad all on your own

Amiablepercy · Feb 16, 2019

Epsilon-delta_ said:
For someone who supposedly makes a lot of money, you have a hard time with reading comprehension.

He or she was offering a possibility, not an excuse.

That could not be discerned within the post at least by my reckoning and others to. Personal attacks or aspersions was a nice touch though.

Steelrain · Feb 16, 2019

julian said:
It's pretty clear some people have no desire to introspect. Being hostile to other posters in an obviously confusing story doesn't make you a righteous warrior - it makes you an asshole. (Royal you)

And to be clear, that's not a comment on the mods. Some of the banned users I saw were banned because they were previously banned and then came back and wouldn't drop the subject or were being hostile.

Even after this I'm still confused about a few things:

1) if he hired the guys, why did he supposedly confirm they were the attackers? That would obviously lead back to him

2) the only motive presented by the news was that he was going to get fired and that was swiftly denied by Fox. If they were right about it being a hoax, how'd they get that so wrong? Was it not wrong?

It's clearly sounding more like a hoax, but those two things still bug me.

I'm guessing he thought the images released of those dudes we're so bad, the police would never figure it out. He probably didn't expect CPD to throw so many resources into figuring this shit out. I'm sure him and his lawyers are writing something up to put out as I type this so I guess we'll see how he wants to play this.

Deleted member 1248 · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
You know other than we now 99% most likely have someone faking a hate crime...

And Don Jr. was still going to be a piece of shit regardless of that.

Chaos-Theory · Feb 16, 2019

Amiablepercy said:
That could not be discerned within the post at least by my reckoning and others to. Personal attacks or aspersions was a nice touch though.

It was pretty clear to me. You jumped on it real quick though for whatever reason.

mjc · Feb 16, 2019

This will do horrid stuff to set things back. What a goddamn fool.

sleepnaught · Feb 16, 2019

This is like the 5th time attacks on democrats or left leaning people has ended up being staged. Terrible look at this point.

Benji · Feb 16, 2019

entremet said:
For sure. I'm still waiting for this to conclude as well. Not looking good for Jussie, though. But it's when all those facts add up, that you start wondering about the weirdness of it all.

Personally, I believed the original story, but thought it was weird. Many people did. I never thought it would get here. Nor am I thinking "told you so". If this story ends up the way it is looking, it will be a tragedy on many levels. Jussie seemed to be a very stand up guy outside of this. His reputation will be shattered along with hurting victims of hate crimes going forward.

Yeah this was me. Story always felt off but I was siding with believing him over instantly condemning him, because hate crimes are a real thing. It always felt "off" but just having that feeling isn't enough

That said, now that its looking like actual evidence is coming forth this was a hoax, I don't find it surprising considering how weird the original story was

That doesn't mean people should run around saying "I told you so" because 9 times out of 10 these hate crimes are the real deal. Higher than that more likely. But yeah, its also true that in strange circumstances like this, people shouldn't rush to condemn those that question things as long as its being done respectfully

Strider_Blaze · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

Oh GTFO Trump Jr.! You are in no position to talk about bullying when your dad is a bully himself. And as if the media was at fault for the story they got.

As for the story, fuck what a mess if true! What would Jussie gain from this? Definitely would give actual victims of racially-provoked/homophobic attacks a bad name!

Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! · Feb 16, 2019

sleepnaught said:
This is like the 5th time attacks on democrats or left leaning people has ended up being staged. Terrible look at this point.

what are the other 4

Benji · Feb 16, 2019

Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! said:
what are the other 4

The only other one I can recall that blew up was the Muslim girl who claimed she was physically attacked right after Trump was elected that was proved to be a hoax

But I can't think of any other high profile ones besides that

Coyote Starrk · Feb 16, 2019

I am so fucking furious that shitheads are gonna weaponize this story in order to try and give validity to "false accusations" and defend future bullshittery.

Phonzo · Feb 16, 2019

Steelrain said:
I'm guessing he thought the images released of those dudes we're so bad, the police would never figure it out. He probably didn't expect CPD to throw so many resources into figuring this shit out. I'm sure him and his lawyers are writing something up to put out as I type this so I guess we'll see how he wants to play this.

My exact thought too. When the pic was feleased i was thinking wtf is this gonna do?

Novel · Feb 16, 2019

Regardless of how this shakes out, trusting the police is laughworthy.

The Flop · Feb 16, 2019

Strings · Feb 16, 2019

Only now catching up on this story because I live under a rock, but damn, this is bizarre.

Coyote Starrk said:
I am so fucking furious that shitheads are gonna weaponize this story in order to try and give validity to "false accusations" and defend future bullshittery.

That's the worst part, and what makes him faking this (if true), reprehensible.

Hourglass97 · Feb 16, 2019

Phonzo said:
The weirdest part of the story was never the weather, or the noose, or the bleach.

Its is simply how you can anticipate someone walking out of their apartment building at 2am. Assuming it is preplanned, you think 2 guys said to themselves, hey lets wait for Jussie at 2am in the morning when he will leave his building and we will get him then, AND get it right? You just cant predict this stuff.

Benji said:
Its more the whole combination of everything

- It being at 2 am on one of the coldest nights of the year
- him randomly going to Subway at that time
- These guys happening to be waiting at that exact moment in below freezing temperatures
- Them having a bottle of bleach and a noose handy on them
- Screaming "MAGA Country" in Chicago of all places

Its just a very strange story, and seemed weird from the start. Not impossible of course, hate crimes absolutely happen in this country. If his story had been he was doing an appearance somewhere and some racist asshole spit at him and called him a slur I wouldn't doubt it for a second, as that happens constantly. But this particular story was just very strange from the jump

I feel like that's what some people in this thread can't get over. Just because people question an outlandish story does not mean they're denying that hate crimes exist, and NO I'm not imply that it's outlandish or hard to believe because it's a hate crime, it's outlandish and hard to believe because of the details mentioned here. If you're making any sort of snap judgement about the motives of people who were skeptical before there was confirmation, thinking they were ignorant, victim blaming, or not taking the accusation seriously, let me suggest that your desire to have a spotlight shown on the plight of vulnerable communities overrode your common sense.

sleepnaught · Feb 16, 2019

Benji said:
The only other one I can recall that blew up was the Muslim girl who claimed she was physically attacked right after Trump was elected that was proved to be a hoax

But I can't think of any other high profile ones besides that

And this one

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/21/us/mississippi-church-fire.html

There was also a democrat political office that was vandalized that ended being done by leftists trying to frame Trump supporters as well. I'll see if I can dig it up.

There's plenty of cases of GOP supporters doing the same, which shouldn't be a surprise.

smurfx · Feb 16, 2019

Novel said:
Regardless of how this shakes out, trusting the police is laughworthy.

i don't trust them when a story involves one of their officers but this doesn't involve them at all. i'll at the very least accept their word when it involves a giant scandal and they have the attention of all the media.

Landawng · Feb 16, 2019

Well this dudes career is over. What a fucking idiot

Steelrain · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:

This dude

Amiablepercy · Feb 16, 2019

Epsilon-delta_ said:
It was pretty clear to me. You jumped on it real quick though for whatever reason.

You clearly had a problem with me from the other day/topic and carried it with you until today but dress it up however you want. It's cool though because I don't have any issues with you we just have different takes on the world

Mona · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:

He left clues he wanted us to find

Deleted member 16657 · Feb 16, 2019

mutantmagnet said:
And you can say so without doing so in manner that blames the victim for any possibility they made decisions that lead to their injury. You may disagree with the forums rules on victim blaming but it's not a difficult rule to abide by since it allows you enough room to question events without having to do that.

I don't understand how you can express doubt about a case like this without victim blaming. For example, I thought it was suspicious that he didn't want to give his phone to the police. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not give your phone to the police, and there are also plenty of illegitimate reasons as seen here.

But wouldn't the very mention of "him not giving his phone to the police is suspicious" be a form of victim blaming? Is there any way to express that sentiment without blaming the victim?

Armadilo · Feb 16, 2019

Wait, he's got an album releasing in March... did he really do all of this for that ?

Benji · Feb 16, 2019

smurfx said:
i don't trust them when a story involves one of their officers but this doesn't involve them at all. i'll at the very least accept their word when it involves a giant scandal and they have the attention of all the media.

Yeah

If this was a case involving an individual cop doing something fucked up to a person of color, well we've seen how that goes. Tons of time police do horrible things to POC

But they weren't even involved in this situation at all, and have the entire media bearing down on them over this one. The idea they are just trying to fuck over Jussie is borderline conspiracy theory

FaceHugger · Feb 16, 2019

Doom_Bringer said:
his story sounded fishy to me from the beginning. I didn't comment on the original thread cause I didn't wanna get banned. I guess my intuition was correct

After the investigation didn't turn up results fairly quickly, like within a week, I became a little skeptical. I stayed quiet because I figured there was still a possibility the cops weren't disclosing information; high-profile case, don't want internet sleuths (Reddit) speculating and having the wrong people targeted, etc. My reasoning:

1. Cameras are everywhere on businesses now, particularly in large cities

2. With #1 in consideration, I found it very likely that the suspects could be easily identified, especially because it took place at 2AM in the freezing cold. How many people would even be out that late in that kind of cold? So, identifying suspects should be even easier than usual

3. Smollet isn't exactly a household name. Yet the attackers came prepared, and knew where he would be at 2AM. So it was obvious to me that they either knew him or lived close by - possibly a neighbor - so they were aware of him and would know he was out. With that in mind, it should have made narrowing down the suspects even easier

Garlador · Feb 16, 2019

The Flop said:
It's starting...

Here's what Don Jr. doesn't understand.

The news reported on the POLICE REPORTS and their official statements about the incident.
And, egregiously, the FACTS are that Jussie Smollett WAS attacked. Investigation is now saying the attack, which did happened, was self-orchestrated.

But nothing the news reported was incorrect. That's the point of investigation, to shed light on the hows and whys of events and sourcing them correctly.

Driver · Feb 16, 2019

This story sounded fishy from the beginning. What a complete douchebag. How can someone even begin to think fabricating an assault is a great idea? It hurts real victims. Hopefully he gets punished accordingly.

Buddy1103 · Feb 16, 2019

was a little skeptical at first but thought best not to post because of all the bans(which was a little weird) but shit...... was hoping this wouldn't happen. whatever his reason for doing this the end result is damaging to actual hate crime victims, some kind of disciplinary action needs to be taken. News outlets reporting this should emphasize that this isn't a common occurrence and shouldn't make people doubt these victims more than before

Carolina Reaper · Feb 16, 2019

PogChamp said:
I don't understand how you can express doubt about a case like this without victim blaming. For example, I thought it was suspicious that he didn't want to give his phone to the police. There are plenty of legitimate reasons to not give your phone to the police, and there are also plenty of illegitimate reasons as seen here.

But wouldn't the very mention of "him not giving his phone to the police is suspicious" be a form of victim blaming? Is there any way to express that sentiment without blaming the victim?

That is in no way victim blaming. Why are people trying to rewrite the definition of that term in an attempt to shut up opinions they don't want to hear?

Garlador · Feb 16, 2019

Buddy1103 said:
was a little skeptical at first but thought best not to post because of all the bans(which was a little weird) but shit...... was hoping this wouldn't happen. whatever his reason for doing this the end result is damaging to actual hate crime victims, some kind of disciplinary action needs to be taken. News outlets reporting this should emphasize that this isn't a common occurrence and shouldn't make people doubt these victims more than before

Agreed, though I have my cynicism that they'll do so.

The FBI has documented statistics on hate crimes that are shockingly high and verified.

If this one turns out bogus, it doesn't negate the thousands that happen annually.

CNN: New evidence suggests Jussie Smollett orchestrated attack (Check Threadmarks / Staff Posts) (UPDATE: Now a suspect)

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