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A Tale of Two Jussie Smolletts
Innocent victim of mob justice or infamous hate crime hoaxer?
As much as the Chicago Sun Times Editorial Board would like to, “turn the page on the Jussie Smollett saga,” the notorious actor is again in the spotlight.
After a conviction in December for orchestrating a hate crime hoax against himself, the former Empire star was sentenced today by Judge James Linn. Mr. Smollett was given 30 months felony probation in addition to 150 days in the Cook County Jail.
Smollett was also ordered to pay $120,000 to the City of Chicago for wasting police department resources on a false claim, plus a $25,000 fine.
Smollett still maintains his innocence.
“If I did this, then it means I stuck my fist in the fears of Black Americans in this country for over 400 years and the fears of the LGBTQ community,” Mr. Smollett said in response to the judge’s sentence. “Your honor, I respect you and I respect the jury, but I did not do this, and I am not suicidal.”
“You’re just a charlatan, pretending to be the victim of a hate crime,” Judge Linn had told Smollett during the proceedings. “Your very name has become an adverb for lying.”
“There is nothing that I can do here today that will come close to the damage you’ve already done to your own life,” Judge Linn…