Actor Jussie Smollett was found guilty of lying to police last week after claiming he was the victim of a hate crime in 2019 and, of all things, a Subway sandwich was a key piece of evidence in the case at his against, the former Chicago cop. the superintendent said, according to reports.
Former superintendent Eddie Johnson told NewsNationNow’s “Morning in America” program that Smollett left his home around 2 am the day he claimed to have been attacked to buy the sandwich.
“Okay, okay,” Johnson said, adding that that morning was one of the coldest in Chicago that year and hardly anyone was on the street. “He comes back and he’s targeted in a hate crime, an alleged hate crime, and throughout this whole fight, they bleached him and all of this, when he got up and walked into his apartment building, he still had that Subway sandwich with him. That doesn’t happen. “
Actor Jussie Smollett, center, leaves the Leighton Criminal Courthouse with unidentified siblings, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, in Chicago, following a verdict at his trial. Smollett was convicted Thursday of five of the six charges that he staged a racist attack on homosexuals against himself nearly three years ago and then lied to Chicago police about it.
(Associated Press)
Smollett’s interview with police inside his apartment after the alleged attack was captured on body camera footage.
Johnson said victims generally abandon everything they have with them when attacked “because they are afraid.”
“This guy had the sandwich in his hand, they had never touched it. So that was real advice and a clue to us that something was wrong.”
“This guy had the sandwich in his hand, they had never touched it. So that was real advice and a clue to us that something was wrong.”
Then-Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson speaks at a news conference in Chicago on November 7, 2019 (Associated Press).
JUSSIE SMOLLETT’s verdict: ‘BE A FAREWELL CELEBRITY,’ SAYS LEGAL EXPERT
Johnson added that Smollett was suspiciously “nonchalant” in removing a rope that the alleged attackers had put around his neck once he returned to his apartment, the video showed, which he said also gave him pause.
Actor Jussie Smollett, second from right, along with his mother Janet, returns to the Leighton Criminal Courthouse on Thursday, December 9, 2021, in Chicago, after the jury reached a verdict in his trial.
(Associated Press)
“I don’t think there are many blacks in America who have a rope around their neck and they don’t immediately take it off,” Johnson, who is black, told the Chicago station.
Smollett had claimed that he was attacked by two men in 2019 because he is black and gay. The two alleged attackers have since said that Smollett paid them to organize the attack.
Jussie Smollett’s intact Subway sandwich caught the attention of investigators, says a former Chicago police superintendent.
(iStock)
You were convicted of telling a police officer you were a victim of a hate crime, telling an officer you were a victim of assault, telling a detective you were a victim of a hate crime, telling a detective that you were a victim of assault and then tell a detective you were the victim of assault you were the victim of assault. He was not convicted of a sixth count of telling a second detective he was a victim of aggravated battery.
In this sketch of the courtroom, special counsel Dan Webb, left, questions actor Jussie Smollett on Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2021, in Chicago.
(Associated Press)
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Prosecutors said he even conducted a trial with the attackers hired in advance.
Smollett maintains his innocence and his attorney said he plans to appeal his conviction, saying the team is confident that he will eventually be acquitted of all charges.
Stephanie Nolasco of Fox News contributed to this report.