BLM backs shamed actor Jussie Smollett despite being a convicted liar

The Black Lives Matter movement brazenly continues to back shamed actor Jussie Smollett with their ‘full support’ despite him being found guilty of staging a homophobic and racist attack to boost his career. 

Smollett, 39, faces 20 years in prison after being found guilty on five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct as his highly-publicized trial came to an end on Thursday. 

The disgraced actor was accused of having orchestrated a fake attack on himself in January 2019, and then lying to Chicago police about being the victim of an anti-gay, racist hate crime. 

BLM leader Dr. Melina Abdullah told TMZ that she continues to stand by Smollett regardless of being found guilty. She said Smollett has their ‘full support’ as the organization ‘refuses to abandon its people and stands on the principle that the justice system is corrupt.’

‘My prayers, love and support is unwavering for my brother Jussie and the Smollett Family,’ she told the outlet. 

After his verdict was read on Thursday, Abdullah tweeted: ‘And I will continue to say it…#PoliceLie #CopsLie We love you Jussie!’

Ahead of the guilty verdict, Abdullah announced that the organization would stand by Smollett regardless of how the trial ended. 

‘It’s not about a trial or a verdict decided in a white supremacist charade, it’s about how we treat our community when corrupt systems are working to devalue their lives,’ the co-founder of BLM’s Los Angeles chapter said in a statement released Tuesday. 

She said that Smollett should not be on trial, explaining: ‘We find ourselves, once again, being forced to put our lives and our value in the hands of judges and juries operating in a system that is designed to oppress us, while continuing to face a corrupt and violent police department, which has proven time and again to have no respect for our lives.’ 

‘In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department (CPD) over Jussie Smollett, a Black man who has been courageously present, visible, and vocal in the struggle for Black freedom.’ 

Taking a definitive stance, Abdullah said: ‘While policing at-large is an irredeemable institution, CPD is notorious for its long and deep history of corruption, racism, and brutality.’ 

‘Chicago police consistently demonstrate that they are among the worst of the worst. Police lie and Chicago police lie especially.’ 

DailyMail.com reached out the BLM for comment. 

Abdullah’s comments run counter to the anger expressed by other liberals, when it was first reported that Smollett could have paid people to stage the racial attack in a bid to win sympathy from the producers of his show, Empire.

In February 2019, when reports emerged that Smollett’s story was perhaps not what it seemed, Reverend Al Sharpton was among those to condemn him.

‘I, among many others when hearing of the report, said that the reports were horrific and that we should come with all that we can come with in law enforcement to find out what happened and the guilty should suffer the maximum,’ said the famed civil rights leader.

‘I still maintain that.

‘And if it is that Smollett and these gentlemen did in some way perpetuate something that is not true, they ought to face accountability to the maximum.’

The New York Anti-Violence project, which works to offer free counseling and eliminate violence and crime directed at LGBTQ and HIV-positive individuals, said at the time they were dismayed at the possibility of Smollett crying wolf.

‘Far too many survivors aren’t believed and don’t get justice for the violence they experience,’ the group said.

‘That’s why we are quick to affirm and believe survivors when they share their stories.

‘For many LGBTQ people across this country, hate violence on the basis of their sexual orientation, gender identity, race and a combination of all of those identities is a daily experience. Increasingly, these experiences with hate violence end up being fatal.

‘These truths mustn’t be overshadowed under these unique circumstances.’

Heidi Beirich, who leads the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Intelligence Project, which tracks and monitors hate groups and crimes, said she was angry at the alleged events.

‘Obviously, I hate the fact that Jussie Smollett lied,’ Beirich said, based on the Chicago police’s account.

‘It is going to give people ammunition to claim that all hate crimes are fake, all hate crime are lies. So, of course we are upset with Smollett for doing this, for opening this door even wider.’ 

In January 2019, Smollett told police that two masked men attacked him in downtown Chicago, where he was filming his hit drama series, Empire.

Cops said they later discovered the story was bogus and that Smollett staged the attack, paying two Nigerian brothers to brutalize him because he was unhappy with his salary and wanted to promote his career.

He was charged March 7 with falsely reporting an offense, but the case was dropped March 26 by the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in return for the actor forfeiting the $10,000 bond he paid.

The City of Chicago later sued Smollett for $130,000 for the cost of the investigation.

The case was revived when a special prosecutor charged Smollett with disorderly conduct over the police reports.

Smollett in October tried to have the case dismissed, but a judge rejected the request in a move Smollett’s attorney interpreted as a violation of rights. 

But Judge James Linn noted that Smollett’s case now was being led by a special prosecutor appointed by another judge, an arrangement that he would not upset.

Prosecutors told jurors during opening statements November 30 that Smollett and the brothers he hired were captured on surveillance footage two days before the incident performing a ‘dry run’ of the attack.

Jurors were shown footage of Smollett walking near the scene of the alleged attack with Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo on January 27, 2019.

The brothers are then seen going to the Crafty Beaver for rope, a beauty supply store for masks and hats and a bank to deposit the $3,500 check Smollett paid them to commit the act.

The former TV star stood rigid and showed no emotion as the guilty verdicts were read out in the Chicago courtroom by Judge James Linn.

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