[Mediaite] The current public stance of the Chicago police is that earlier this month, at 2 a.m. on a very cold Chicago night,[about +5F at the time]
Smollett was the victim of what appears to be a heinous hate crime where he was physically attacked by two men, and humiliated due to his race, homosexuality, and possibly his opposition to President Donald Trump. The Chicago media, in official reports, has largely treated that narrative as legitimate, while chronicling the complete lack of suspects
[the two persons seen on surveillance camera have been IDed as homeless persons on their way to shelter]
and corroborating evidence
[Smollette still refuses to turn over his phone but the police have issued a legal warrant to obtain it]
as more of a frustration than any indication that something else might be going on here.
Behind the scenes, however, based on conversations I have had with multiple people covering the story, there is a radically different take on what really did happen to Smollett. In short, there is near unanimity among police sources that Smollett's story is very likely not true. And that even the media outlets still regurgitating the current "party line" don't really believe it.
| Sadly, the statistical probability is that any given racist attack will turn out to be a fake perpetrated by the claimed victim rather than the real, horrible thing. I s’pose we should be pleased our society is so much less racist than so loudly proclaimed. |