The city of Chicago has filed a lawsuit against Jussie Smollett, accusing him of purposely deceiving police by falsely describing his alleged assailants as white men.
“(Smollett) made this statement despite knowing that the Osundairo Brothers are not white-skinned,” the lawsuit says. “By providing this false description, (Smollett) purposely misled the CPD officers to believe that his attackers were white, when, in fact, (Smollett) knew that his attackers were the Osundairo brothers.”
The lawsuit stems from a supposed hoax set up by the “Empire” actor on Jan. 29. Smollett told police that he was attacked by two white men wearing ski masks that night who yelled homophobic and racist slurs at him. He also claimed that these men screamed “This is MAGA country,” a reference to President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan.
Investigators spent weeks treating Smollett like a victim and were about to charge brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo with assault.
Police arrested the two brothers a couple weeks after the incident as they returned to O’Hare National Airport from an overseas trip. They reportedly told the police how Smollett paid them $3,500 to carry out the alleged hoax attack.
After the brothers provided their statements, police charged Smollett for filing a false police report.
However, the office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced on March 26 that they were dropping the charges against Smollett.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel described the decision as “a whitewash of justice” and others criticized the Cook County’s state’s attorney office for not requiring an apology and admission of guilt from Smollett as a condition for dropping the case.
Smollett refused a demand that he send the city $130,106 to pay back Chicago for overtime as police investigated the case.
Smollett continues to say that he has told the truth from the beginning. While he admitted to no wrongdoing, he agreed to do community service before his charges were dropped. He also forfeited his $10,000 in bond money.
Under the city code, Chicago has the ability to triple the amount the city originally demanded. This means Smollett could have to pay more than $390,000 to the city. If he refuses to pay after a verdict in the city’s favor, his bank accounts will be frozen.
If you would like to read more law related news stories, visit our news feed at Cohen & Cohen
