Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the dropped charges against actor Jussie Smollett “a whitewash of justice” at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Smollett was previously indicted on 16 counts of disorderly conduct last month for allegedly filing a false police report that claimed he’d been the victim of a hate crime. “He used the laws of the hate crime legislation that all of us through the years have put on the books to stand up to be the values that embody what we believe in,” Emanuel said. “This is a whitewash of justice. A grand jury could not have been clearer.” Cook County prosecutors dropped all charges against Smollett on Tuesday, saying he’d agreed to perform community service and forfeit his $10,000 bond.
At the press conference, Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson said he stands behind his detectives’ investigation, adding that the city is owed an apology. “You cannot have, because of a person’s position, one set of rules apply to them and another set of rules apply to everybody else,” Emanuel said. “... You have a person, because of their position and background who is getting treated in a way that nobody else would ever...”
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