The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SMOLLETT HIT WITH 16 FELONY COUNTS
CHICAGO — A grand jury in Chicago indicted “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett on 16 felony counts related to making a false report that he was attacked by two men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs.
What happened
The Cook County grand jury indictment dated Thursday and made public Friday night gives details of the disorderly conduct charge against Smollett.
It elaborates on the allegation that he falsely reported he was attacked on Jan. 29 by two masked men who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at the black and openly gay actor, beat him, threw an unidentified liquid chemical on him and looped a rope tied like a noose around his neck.
The indictment — eight counts from what he told the officer who responded to the report of the attack and eight for what he later told a detective — comes a little more than two weeks after prosecutors announced one felony count of the same charge.
What it means
Chicago police initially investigated the incident as a possible hate crime but later said Smollett staged the attack, recruiting two brothers to carry it out, because he was unhappy with his pay on the Fox show.
While it was not immediately clear why the grand jury indicted Smollett on 16 counts, it divides what prosecutors and police say the actor told the officer who responded to the initial call from what he said to the detective.
The second eight counts are more explosive because they include two things that helped propel the incident into an international sensation. The first is that by the time he talked to the detective, Smollett said he could see through the eyeholes of one attacker’s mask that he was a white man. The two brothers who allegedly participated are black.
What’s next
According to ABC in Chicago, “Experts believe it is likely he will strike a plea deal and potentially not spend time in prison.”
He will be arraigned on the new charges Thursday.
Since Smollett’s arrest, the producers of “Empire” announced that the actor’s character would be removed from the season’s final two episodes. Fox network and the studio that produces “Empire” had no immediate comment on the latest indictment.