"Empire" star Jussie Smollett was victimized in a racist, homophobic, brutal attack in Chicago. He was hospitalized, and his condition has not been released.
Late last night in subzero temperatures, two white men who appeared to have been waiting for him jumped him, called him a "faggot" and a "nigger," hung rope around his neck, poured a chemical presumed to be bleach on him.
Trump owns this.
Trump's supporters own this.
Everyone who allows racist and homophobic words to go unchecked in 2019 owns this.
Words are actions that lead to more actions.
Like this one.
Wow… Absolutely horrific details in this Chicago Police Dept Statement on incident reportedly involving actor Jussie Smollett pic.twitter.com/E4iTWfDule
— Michael Del Moro (@MikeDelMoro) January 29, 2019
From last year, in Jussie's Twitter feed:
The way people treat you is a reflection of how they feel about themselves. Don’t stress it. It ain’t even about you kid. Keep moving. ??
— Jussie Smollett (@JussieSmollett) December 27, 2018
Jussie's music project FUW released a music video critical of Trump in 2017 that went viral, and made him the target of online white supremacists. The video is below.
From TheGrio:
The black-and-white video features men and woman of various ethnicities and highlights injustices, from human and LGBT rights to religious and racial prejudices. A woman wears a hijab in one scene, a boy wears a hoodie in another and four women put their fists up as they stand in front of the words, “My body, my rights.”
.@JussieSmollett was scheduled to perform this Saturday at @theTroubadour in West Hollywood.
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) January 29, 2019
Below some items from Twitter, at the time this story broke, from some of the reporters covering it, and others observing.
Contra TMZ’s report, Chicago police says that “there is no report of that being said” re: Jussie Smollett’s attackers shouting “This is MAGA country.” Unclear where TMZ got that from. https://t.co/ufiwfTfcnk
— Andrew Kirell (@AndrewKirell) January 29, 2019
Police said the actor was walking down a street when people yelled homophobic and racist slurs, beat him, poured a chemical on him, and wrapped a rope around his neck https://t.co/S7TIdt64al via @KrystieLYandoli
— David Mack (@davidmackau) January 29, 2019
I don’t believe for two seconds that two MAGA guys were randomly in ski masks with had bleach readily available at a Subway at 2am in subzero temperatures in Chicago. They planned to harm Jussie.
— deray (@deray) January 29, 2019
I don’t really have a lot of words. Jussie is an amazing man. This is horrible. Homophobia is dangerous. Fuck MAGA. #WeLoveJussie https://t.co/CAyTO955tM
— deray (@deray) January 29, 2019
I don’t wanna retweet that Jussie Smollett article but I will say don’t ever tell people in a marginalized group ever to be quiet or stop complaining because we always have to be on the defensive, and when we’re silent things like this happen. Donate to a LBGTQIA/Black org today.
— Yassir Lester (@Yassir_Lester) January 29, 2019
The hate crime on Jussie Smollett is not an isolated event. Hate crimes against LGBTQ people increased 17% in 2017 according to the FBI's recent report. 2018's stats will be worse.
This is what the Trump-Pence White House has enabled through their hateful rhetoric and actions.
— Charlotte Clymer?️? (@cmclymer) January 29, 2019
BREAKING: Actor Jussie Smollett Hospitalized After Possible Hate Crimehttps://t.co/QTW5bOQLO8
— Zach Stafford (@ZachStafford) January 29, 2019
Jussie has done a ton of stuff for The Trevor Project, all free of charge. He deeply cares about the safety of LGBTQ youth. I feel sick seeing all of this news break right now.
They better track down who did this to him.
— Calvin (@calvinstowell) January 29, 2019
Given what we’ve seen so far, I fully expect the men who attacked Jussie Smollett to score a sit-down interview with Ellen at some point in the next few weeks. Maybe it will be a roundtable discussion with Kevin Hart.
— Saeed Jones (@theferocity) January 29, 2019
I’m really horrified and enraged by the details around Jussie Smollett being brutalized by white supremacists. I love a lot of folks that love him and have been touched by him, I’m also truly sorry just as another Black gay man, and really, as another human. This is unacceptable.
— Myles E. Johnson (@hausmuva) January 29, 2019
"Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime," police said in a statement to @THR https://t.co/BczwC8YX4H
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 29, 2019
They let these MAGA folk run around like they aren’t the KKK with different hoods.
Calling Jussie a nigger and a faggot. The intersections of violence we face is critical here when living in multiple marginalization
— George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) January 29, 2019
The reported hate attack on my friend and brother, actor Jussie Smollett is despicable and outrageous. The guilty must face the maximum.
— Reverend Al Sharpton (@TheRevAl) January 29, 2019
hate crime: *happens*
media: unfortunately we have what some are calling a hate hootenanny— jaboukie (@jaboukie) January 29, 2019
Hi there, journalists!
I'm a historian who's written about white supremacists, so let me assure you that when a violent attack on an African American man involves use of the N-word and the literal placement of a noose around his neck, you can go ahead and call that "racist."
— Kevin M. Kruse (@KevinMKruse) January 29, 2019
Countdown to the op-eds where people blame the victim in today's high-profile apparent hate crime
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) January 29, 2019
The headline of this post was updated to reflect Smollett's arrest and charges.
