Jussie Smollett’s Attorneys Say He Was Victim of Police ‘Spectacle’
Jussie Smollett’s legal team issued a defiant statement on Thursday night, saying the “Empire” actor feels betrayed by the justice system and hinting at a political motive for his prosecution.
Smollett was arrested early Thursday on a felony charge of filing a false police report. He was released after a court hearing on $100,000 bond, walking past a scrum of cameras as he returned to the set of “Empire.”
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“Today we witnessed an organized law enforcement spectacle that has no place in the American legal system. The presumption of innocence, a bedrock in the search for justice, was trampled upon at the expense of Mr. Smollett and notably, on the eve of a Mayoral election. Mr. Smollett is a young man of impeccable character and integrity who fiercely and solemnly maintains his innocence and feels betrayed by a system that apparently wants to skip due process and proceed directly to sentencing.”
Smollett could face one to three years in prison if convicted of staging a hate attack on himself on Jan. 29. Police claim that he paid two brothers $3,500 to attack him, pour bleach on him, and put a rope around his neck. Fox has issued several statements in support of the actor, and he resumed work on “Empire” Thursday despite reports that the network was considering suspending him.
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