Hollywood actor Jussie Smollet may have to reimburse the Chicago Police Department (CPD) for costs it incurred while investigating the alleged racist and homophobic attack on him last month that has turned out to be a hoax.
In addition to paying fines and serving up to three years in prison, the Empire actor could be compelled “to pay for the cost of the investigation into his report of a Jan. 29 beating” if he is convicted, the Associated Press reported Thursday.
It is not yet clear how much the investigation cost, but the department launched an urgent investigation in January, including a search through footage from surveillance cameras from an entire neighborhood over several weeks.
Smote turned himself in to Chicago police early Thursday after being indicted and charged with filing a false police report, a felony. Chicago officials — including Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson — condemned Smollett’s alleged fraud and defended the city’s reputation as a tolerant community.
Mayor Emanuel managed to include a subtle dig at Trump in his statement. Initially, the media, Hollywood, and Democratic Party elite had rushed to support Smollett — and to blame the president for the attack.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) president and CEO Derrick Johnson said at the time: “The rise in hate crimes is directly linked to President Donald J. Trump’s racist and xenophobic rhetoric.”
The NAACP has not since retracted or apologized. Breitbart News has reached out to the NAACP for comment.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. He is also the co-author of How Trump Won: The Inside Story of a Revolution, which is available from Regnery. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.