Mike Norris, Co-Editor, The American Dossier
On January 29th Jussie Smollett alleged that he was attacked by two masked men after leaving a Chicago Subway. The men, who Smollett said were wearing “Make America Great Again” hats, allegedly poured bleach on him and tied a noose around his neck, while yelling, “This is MAGA country!”
When Smollett reported the alleged attack, many rushed to support him on social media labeling the alleged hate crime emblematic of the social issues facing Donald Trump’s America.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tweeted: “The racist, homophobic attack on @JussieSmollett is an affront to our humanity.”
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) tweeted: “This is a sickening and outrageous attack and horribly, it’s the latest of too many hate crimes against LGBTQ people and people of color.”
Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) tweeted that it was “a racist and homophobic attack” and “It is no one’s job to water down or sugar-coat the rise of hate crimes.”
Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) stated, “The vicious attack on actor Jussie Smollett was an attempted modern-day lynching. I’m glad he’s safe."
Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) called the attack: “an attempted modern-day lynching.”
Then, Chicago Police Department (CPD) sources began to report that Smollett may have staged the attack. On Saturday a CPD spokesman stated that said the trajectory of the case had “shifted” and that detectives want to follow up with him.
Turns out, it was all a lie.
There were inconsistencies in Smollett's story from the beginning.
CPD reviewed hours of video surveillance from the area but found no footage of the attack. At the time of the report, Smollett alleged that two white men attacked him. CPD said two Nigerian brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo, were captured on surveillance video at the time that Smollett said he was attacked.
On Wednesday CPD detained the Osundairo brothers. Ola and Abel flew to Nigeria on the day of the alleged attack and were detained when they returned to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport.
Sources say Smollett initially agreed to sign complaints against the men, but declined to do so once he heard that it was Ola and Abel. Ola Osundairo is connected to Smollett through "Empire," where he played a prisoner in season two.
After interviewing the men, CPD searched their apartment looking for clues. Evidence logs show that CPD found ropes, masks and bleach during the search.
CPD detectives also found a receipt that proves the two brothers bought the rope found on Smollett's neck at Crafty Beaver Hardware Store in Chicago. Sources said that the brothers used Smollett's money to make the purchase on the weekend of January 25.
The Osundairo brothers were released Friday night, without charges. CPD is now investigating whether Smollett paid the two men to pretend to assault him. According to several outlets, Smollett had planned to blame President Trump for inciting the violence he experienced.
For many, the Smollett case follows a pattern of the media promoting victimization at the hands of supporters of President Trump. Only two weeks ago, many rushed to condemn a group of Covington Catholic High School students, when they were confronted by Nathan Phillips.
An investigation found that the hate group, “Black Hebrew Israelites” were to blame for the incident.
Hate crimes do happen. But some alleged hate crimes turn out to be hoaxes.
Since President Trump was elected, the media has fallen for hundreds of hate crime hoaxes, reporting on them as if they were confirmed facts, rather than allegations. By the time a story is proven to be false, the media has already moved on to the next outrage.
Despite President Trump's very real history of making disparaging remarks about all kinds of people, there is not a lot of statistical evidence to support the theory that hate crimes have increased during his Presidency. Conversely, a comprehensive list compiled by Breitbart details 639 threats and attacks against Trump supporters over the last several years.
No matter how many times the news media falls for these hoaxes, they will continue to do so because of confirmation bias. Defined as "the tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms one's preexisting beliefs or hypotheses." The media reported Smollett’s allegations as fact, because confirmed all of their biases about the president's supporters.
This does not mean that racism is nonexistent, because racism IS a real thing that DOES exist.
But every time someone makes a false claim, it makes it that much harder for real victims to be heard.