Jussie Smollett is ‘indicted by special prosecutor in Chicago’ – nearly a year after having charges dropped over ‘hoax’ attack
Jussie Smollett in his February 2019 mugshot
Jussie Smollett has been indicted by a special prosecutor in Chicago, nearly a year after the charges against him over an alleged hoax attack were dropped.
Fox 5 reports the special prosecutor brought charges against Smollett on Tuesday. It is not clear what those charges are but he is due in court on February 24.
Authorities are yet to confirm the indictment.
It is now more than a year since Smollett claimed he was attacked at 2am in Chicago on January 29 while out getting a sandwich.
He told police his attackers called him racist and homophobic slurs and that they appeared light-skinned.
Nigerian brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo were then identified as the people he’d said attacked him. The pair knew Smollett and told the authorities he paid them to attack him in a staged incident to allegedly boost his celebrity profile and salary.
Smollett was then hit with a 16-count grand jury indictment and faced more than 50 years behind bars until State’s Attorney Kim Foxx suddenly dropped all the charges last March in exchange for him doing community service.
It was a decision that blindsided and outraged former mayor Rahm Emanuel and former Chief of Police Eddie Johnson.
Smollett, who has all along insisted he is innocent, then sued the city for malicious prosecution.
There have been various rounds of civil litigation but the cases keep getting delayed because it has been so difficult to identify an impartial prosecutor.