Despite the absurdity of Jussie Smollett’s hate crime story and his disastrous testimony, a leader of the Black Lives Matter movement is standing in solidarity with the disgraced actor and will continue to do so regardless of the trial’s outcome, which she called a “white supremacist charade.”
“In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department (CPD) over Jussie Smollett,” Dr. Melina Abdullah, Director of BLM Grassroots and Co-Founder of BLM Los Angeles, said in a statement. Abdullah also described Smollett as a black man “who has been courageously present, visible, and vocal in the struggle for black freedom.”
“While policing at-large is an irredeemable institution, CPD is notorious for its long and deep history of corruption, racism, and brutality,” she continued. “From the murders of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, to the Burge tortures, to the murder of Laquan McDonald and subsequent cover-up, to the hundreds of others killed by Chicago police over the years and the thousands who survived abuse, Chicago police consistently demonstrate that they are among the worst of the worst. Police lie and Chicago police lie especially.”
Abdullah nevertheless claimed, “we love everybody in our community.”
Okay.
Smollett faces three years in prison if convicted. He’s been charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct for filing a false report about a hate crime attack.
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