'THIS STUNT SCARS' CITY
Chi police chief's outrage
HERE is the statement read by Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson before Jussie Smollett’s arraignment Thursday:
Good morning, everyone. Before I get started on why we’re here, as I look out into the crowd, I just wish that the families of gun violence in this city got this much attention because that’s who really deserves the amount of attention we’ve given to this particular incident.
So this morning, I come to you not only as the superintendent of the Chicago Police Department but also as a black man who spent his entire life living in the city of Chicago.
I know the racial divide that exists here. I know how hard it’s been for our city and our nation to come together. I also know the disparities in our unique history.
This announcement today recognizes that “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career. I’m left hanging my head and asking, “Why?”
Why would anyone, especially an African-American man, use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations?
How could someone look at the hatred of suffering associated with that symbol and see an opportunity to manipulate that symbol to further his own public profile?
How can an individual who’s been embraced by the city of Chicago turn around and slap everyone in this city in the face by making these false claims?
Bogus police reports cause real harm. They do harm to every legitimate victim who’s in need of support by police and investigators, as well as the citizens of this city.
Chicago hosts one of the largest pride parades in the world, and we’re proud of that as a police department and also as a city.
We do not nor do we ever tolerate hate in our city, whether that is based on an individual’s sexual orientation, race or anything else.
So I’m offended by what’s happened, and I’m also angry.
I love the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department, warts and all.
But this publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn and certainly didn’t deserve.
To make things worse, the accusations within this phony attack received national attention for weeks.
Celebrities, news commentators and even presidential candidates weighed in on something that was choreographed by an actor.
Now our city has problems, we know that.
We have problems that have affected people from all walks of life, and we know that.
But to put the national spotlight on Chicago for something that’s both egregious and untrue is simply shameful.
I’m also concerned about what this means moving forward for hate crimes.
Now, of course, the Chicago Police Department will continue to investigate all reports of these types of incidents with the same amount of vigor that we did with this one.
My concern is that hate crimes will now publicly be met with a level of skepticism that previously didn’t happen.
That said, Smollett was treated as a victim throughout this investigation until we received evidence that led detectives in another direction.
I couldn’t be more proud of the unending detective work that went into this investigation. I couldn’t be more proud of every investigator that played a part in it.
The detective work that we saw in this case is indicative of the work that our detectives do every day in this city.
This case in particular involved hours of video evidence, which when combined with old-fashioned police work, uncovered the truth.
These detectives deserve all the credit in the world for carefully analyzing leads and evidence for weeks before coming to their conclusion.
I only hope the truth about what happened receives the same amount of attention as the hoax did.
I continue to pray for this troubled young man who resorted to both drastic and illegal tactics to gain attention. I’ll also continue to pray for our city, asking that we can move forward from this and begin to heal.