Jussie Smollett attacked with bleach and noose

[CharlesPhipps]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/entertai ... index.html

"Interrogations will resume today with the two individuals and their attorney," Guglielmi said in Friday's statement. "While we haven't found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax."

"The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect," he added.

[Antiboyscout]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/entertai ... index.html

"Interrogations will resume today with the two individuals and their attorney," Guglielmi said in Friday's statement. "While we haven't found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax."

"The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect," he added.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/18/entertai ... index.html

"Now as new details emerge, conversation around the case is more hesitant.
Two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation have told CNN that Chicago Police believe Smollett paid two men to orchestrate the alleged assault."

[Darth Wedgius]

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/15/entertai ... index.html

"Interrogations will resume today with the two individuals and their attorney," Guglielmi said in Friday's statement. "While we haven't found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax."

"The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect," he added.

That's not saying that it wasn't a hoax, that's saying that it's not known to be a hoax.

[Admiral X]

They are acting intelligently and not making any statements that could come back to bite them in the ass later. It can't really be said that this was for sure a hoax yet, even if those two rolled on him, and you can bet your ass that with a black gay man claiming he was the victim of a hate crime that they're going to go the extra distance on this one. They're already going to get accused of racism and homophobia, so all the better to make sure they have as many facts as possible before saying one way or the other.

[CharlesPhipps]

Acting so heavily on a hate crime will do a good job for the police's image, definitely.

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

Well yeah, usually the reports read like "two white men in hoods and robes used a robe and branded the N-Word on the african-american victim's skin while chanting 'white power'. The act is not being investigated as a hate crime."

[Darth Wedgius]

Well yeah, usually the reports read like "two white men in hoods and robes used a robe and branded the N-Word on the african-american victim's skin while chanting 'white power'. The act is not being investigated as a hate crime."

Source?

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

You got me. I don't have a source. This is purely anecdotal observations of me, reading lots and lots of news articles where something very racist is followed up with "not being investigated as a hate crime". Thirty lashes with a wet noodle.

Gotta say, at this point...I have NO idea what is going on with this case. @_@

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

I just wanted a definition for "identity groups."

Well I thought the grouped term would be familiar at least between us as we have discussed identity politics as a topic.

I want to make sure I'm not making assumptions. We are talking pretty much anyone not straight cisgendered white men, right?

Hell yeah we are!

That's fine. I just wanted to get past that silly "liberals treat everyone the same without regard to race, sex, or sexual orientation" nonsense. Thanks!

Look at Stacey Dash or Kanye West and what people will have to say about them. Milo Yiannopoulos was of the most hated personalities. MeToo roasted plenty of people that fall into those categories, the movement largely being kicked off over a gay man.

[Darth Wedgius]

There are a few reasons so many people thought this was fake from the start. I thought so too, but I held my tongue until more facts were in rather than going full Covington. Never go full Covington.

Walking around with rope and bleach on an extraordinarily cold day seemed a bit unlikely. I figured either it was fake or he'd been tailed.

"This is MAGA country" sounded like something someone on the left thought someone on the right would say while making a racist attack, not what someone on the right would actually say. For most of the right, "MAGA" isn't racist. For a lot of the left, "MAGA" is supposed to be a racist/whatever-phobic dog-whistle. The left isn't very good at getting into the heads of the right.

Jussie's screentime in Empire seems to have been cut back severely, but maybe the producers were planning on that anway, to give him recovery time.