Jussie Smollett Convicted Of Staging Attack, Lying To Police

Smollett was convicted of staging an attack on himself and lying to Chicago police about the incident.

Former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett was convicted Thursday on five of six charges he staged an anti-gay, racist attack on himself nearly three years ago and then lied to Chicago police about it.

He was acquitted on one count.

The jury deliberated about eight hours Wednesday and Thursday after a roughly one-week trial in which two brothers testified that Smollett recruited them to fake the attack near his home in downtown Chicago in January 2019. They said Smollett orchestrated the hoax, telling them to put a noose around his neck and rough him up in view of a surveillance camera, and that he said he wanted video of the hoax made public via social media.