Chicago Police are still investigating on the basis that the Smollett attack was not a hoax, but their superintendent said they WILL press charges on him if they discover it was a hoax.
From the Daily Wire:
Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson reportedly told local media Tuesday that the Chicago Police Department will pursue a case against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett if it turns out Smollett filed a false police report alleging a late night attack.
They’re referring to this tweet:
#ChicagoPolice Supt Eddie Johnson says #JussieSmollett is still being treated as the victim in this case but if the investigation does reveal he made a false report he will be held accountable.
— raferweigel (@RaferWeigel) February 5, 2019
It’s good to know they won’t let him off the hook, but to be honest, there’s very little evidence it’s a hoax. Now many of the clickbait-mongers are dishonestly misleading readers, but at this point, there’s just not that much information out there proving either way. Of course, the case involves very heightened emotions since the left is blaming MAGA and Trump while they are one million percent assured it’s a hoax. We prefer to see what the evidence tells us before drawing conclusions.
One very important key is the cell phone records from Smollett. They did not seek his phone, but they will be able to see who he called and where he was at, after they obtain the records from the phone company. Then we might be closer to more solid evidence about what happened.
UPDATE!!
I need to clarify what I said about his phone records. Police said they weren’t going to demand that he hand over the phone, but when they asked him to do so, he refused.
In this TMZ video Smollett confirms that he didn’t want to hand over his phone, but he was fine with the police reviewing his phone records.
Empire's Jussie Smollett clarifies 3 things - MAGA gear, not giving up phone records & keeping the rope around his neck. pic.twitter.com/WzACMxjhHU
— TMZ (@TMZ) February 2, 2019
I should have said that they didn’t seek his phone records – originally it was reported that they are not looking at his phone records:
Chicago police also say Jussie Smollett is NOT the target or focus of any criminal investigation, he is the victim. Police have no interest or probable cause to obtain a warrant to search his phone records.
— Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) January 31, 2019
But now some outlets are reporting that they ARE seeking those records. Either way, we’ll know much more if those are ever released. However, I should have been more clear in what I wrote previously.