Jussie Smollett faces new criminal charges over alleged fake attack

Special prosecutor announces indictment

Jussie Smollett has been indicted in relation to the alleged attack he said he experienced in January.

Special prosecutor Dan Webb announced the six-count indictment, which was returned by a grand jury, on Tuesday.

The charges stem from Smollett's assertion that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in January 2019 in Chicago.

Smollett, who is black and gay, was originally charged the following month with disorderly conduct for allegedly staging the attack and lying about it to investigators. The charges were dropped in March 2019 with little explanation, angering police officials and then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel.

Smollett has maintained his innocence.

Cook County Judge Michael Toomin in August appointed Webb, a former US attorney, as a special prosecutor to look into why the charges were dropped.

Smollett told police he was walking home early on 29 January, 2019, when two masked men approached him, made racist and homophobic insults, beat him and looped a noose around his neck before fleeing.

He said his assailants, at least one of whom he said was white, told him he was in “MAGA country” — a reference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.”

Several weeks later, authorities alleged that Smollett had paid two men $3,500 to help him stage the attack because he was unhappy with his salary as an actor on Empire and wanted to drum up publicity for his career – a narrative disputed by Smollett.

Additional reporting by agencies