The brothers who helped Jussie Smollett carry out an elaborate hoax in which he claimed to be the victim of a racist and homophobic attack say they are not surprised His conviction was overturned.
What shocks Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo is that the actor is still not admitting what he did.
“We were taken back to the beginning, not because of the Supreme Court decision, but because Jussi never admitted guilt,” Abimbola Osundairo. told fox news Friday. “We understand that they have due process rights and that double jeopardy should not and is not allowed in the United States. However, Jussi should have confessed to the crime.
Smollett has repeatedly declared his innocence.
Olabinjo Osundairo said, “The real injustice here was the sweetheart deal that (Smollett) was given by Kim Foxx’s office at the beginning of all this.”
Smollett had a strong belief throw out On a technicality by the Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday.
The verdict is based on Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx’s decision to drop charges against Smollett after she initially charged him with 16 felony counts related to hate crime fraud.
In a twist right out of a Netflix series, the court found that the former “Empire” actor’s Fifth Amendment rights were violated by a special prosecutor’s decision, even though the initial charges against him had already been dropped.
Smollett, 42, who is black and gay, claimed that two men calling for Make America Great Again attacked him in the dead of night in January 2019, and announced before the attack, “This is MAGA country”.
The attackers, Smollett alleged, shouted homophobic and racial slurs, placed a noose around her neck and poured bleach on her – prompting Chicago police to conduct a massive manhunt for the suspects, which cost the city more than $130,000.
Investigators soon exposed this elaborate ruse, revealing that the actor had actually hired the Osundairo brothers to carry out the incident to boost his profile and burnish his tough guy credentials.
Osunderos also said that Smollett never gave him the full amount promised for helping with the fraud – then argued that he did not do it for the cash.
“It was not about money at all,” Abimbola said Friday. “It was like us helping a friend.”
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