Jussie Smollett Arrested After Alleged ‘MAGA’ Hoax

“Press Briefing: Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives,” Anthony Guglielmi, Chief Communications Officer for the Chicago Police Department posted on Twitter. “At 9am at #ChicagoPolice Headquarters, Supt Eddie Johnson, Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will brief reporters on the investigation prior to the defendant’s appearance in court.”

Class 4 Felony charges were filed against Smollett on Wednesday evening stemming from a hate crime hoax that he allegedly coordinated last month. Smollett alleged two white men beat him, poured bleach on him, put a noose around his neck and shouted “this is MAGA country” early on Jan 29.

Several aspects of Smollet’s story arose suspicion from the start and, as elements of his story fell apart, skepticism grew.

Smollett’s story fully-collapsed when two Nigerian brothers were arrested last Wednesday for the alleged attack before being released Friday without charges. The two men reportedly testified in a Grand Jury hearing that Smollett paid them to carry out the hoax attack.

The “Empire” star, according to police sources, attempted to hide his relationship with the brothers by providing heavily-redacted phone records to police. Police then compared Smollet’s version of his call log with the actual phone records from his cell provider and were quickly able to discern just who Jussie had hoped to hide.

This is Smollett’s second arrest for lying to law enforcement. He pleaded guilty to charges of lying to officials and drunk driving in 2007. He was given a two-year suspended sentence and paid a fine. That charge could weigh in this second offense which could bring one-to-three years in prison and a $25,000 fine.