A senior Black Lives Matter leader has strongly defended Jussie Smollett as he awaits the verdict in his trial on allegations of faking a hate crime, insisting that Smollett should be acquitted because ‘we can never believe police’.
Smollett, 39, is currently on trial in Chicago, accused of having orchestrated a fake attack on himself in January 2019, then lied to Chicago police about being the victim of an anti-gay, racist hate crime.
Jurors are expected to resume deliberations on Thursday, having deliberated for about two hours on Wednesday following a roughly one-week trial.
Shocka! – 74% think Smollett staged fake hate crime: poll
