Chicago Police Get Last Laugh, Dump Damning Smollett Texts
A new trove of evidence in the Jussie Smollett case from Chicago police proves two things: a) Smollett looked pretty darn guilty and b) nobody in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office seemed interested in that fact.
Somewhere in that trove of evidence was a series of texts from Smollett to the Nigerian-born brothers who admitted staging the assault upon the “Empire” actor, arranging a meeting to talk “face to face” with them before the attack.
The texts also include requests to the Osundairo brothers for hookups to illegal drugs, including cocaine, ecstasy and marijuana.
“N—-, you still got a molly [ecstasy] connect?” a text from Smollett to Abimbola Osundairo in September read, according to The Daily Beast. “Hahahaha … Imma need a good fo pills Haha.”
Another text in January seemed to have more sinister connotations to it, however: “Might need your help on the low. You around to meet up and talk face to face?” Smollett texted.
Video and GPS evidence indicates that afterward, Smollett met up with the two brothers and proposed the plan, according to the 500 pages of police documents.
“He allegedly instructed them to yell ‘Empire F—-t’ and “Empire N—–.’ The plan, according to the case file, was that he would respond, ‘What did you say?’ before they pummeled him,” The Daily Beast reported.
“According to police, Smollett only wanted Olabinjo Osundairo to punch him because he didn’t trust the other brother, and Olabinjo rubbed his knuckles into Smollett’s face to make it look bruised.”
In return, police say the brothers received a $3,500 check with the memo “5 week nutrition/workout program.”
The documents, released on Thursday, “detail the painstaking timeline of how detectives say they unraveled the actor’s allegedly bogus claim that he had been targeted in a homophobic, racist hate crime near his Streeterville home on January 29,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.
The documents had originally been placed under seal — a controversial move that rivaled the controversy created by the decision to drop all charges against Smollett — but a ruling last week led to the documents being unsealed.
The most damaging revelation in the documents, aside from that text message before the allegedly staged attack, was that the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office told police they had to stop investigating the case just days after Smollett was arrested on February 28.
The office had already decided on a minimal restitution amount of $10,000 and community service, though it wasn’t until March 26 that it was announced.
There were also the inconsistencies in Smollett’s story.
On the night of the attack, he told detectives one of the attackers was white. However, on February 14, he said that he merely “assumed they were white due to the comments that were made.”
There was more problematic evidence from the night of the attack, as well.
Police requested a buccal swab test from Smollett to eliminate his DNA from the rope that was placed around his neck; he said he would “think about it.” They also asked why his sweater wasn’t dirty, “to which he explained they were on snow and ice.”
Smollett also expressed surprise to the police when he was informed the Osundairo brothers were in custody for the attack.
“They are black as sin,” he told them. “We don’t have any issues. They are straight, so we don’t have any problems with women or men. They did not owe me any money, I don’t owe them any money. We have a good relationship.”
In his interview with police on February 15, “Olabinjo Osundairo stated that a plan was formulated and put into play by [redacted] to conduct a staged incident where [redacted] was beaten by Olabinjo Usundairo and Abimbola Osundairo posing as persons other than themselves,” the case report said.
It added the actor “was unhappy about the response he received over hate mail which was delivered to him.”
In short, there was a mountain of evidence here. And prosecutor Kim Foxx’s office decided that the case, which ripped open divisions nationwide by actively scapegoating white Trump supporters, was worth only the most desultory slap on the wrist.
The Chicago police, who had spent a massive amount of resources on this, were the ones who ended up getting thrown under the bus.
At least now they’re getting the last laugh.
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