Part of falling for fake hate crimes, albeit temporarily, stems from falling for other fake hate crimes permanently. Several stories of martyrdom at the hands of bigots woven into our national fabric appear upon further inspection to be, well, fabricated. Unlike the Smollett case, these events involved real, horrific violence. But in the aftermath, ideologues used the tragedies for political purposes. This success in alchemizing propaganda into history inspired Jussie Smollett to increase his stature from wealthy primetime actor to victim.