More Info Comes Out On Actor Apparently “Attacked By Trump Supporters”

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I said it then, and I’ll say it now…

I will be the FIRST to condemn this HEINOUS behavior. There is no room in civilized society for something like this. It’s an atrocity.

…But something about this story doesn’t sit well with me.

TMZ is reporting that gay, black actor Jussie Smollet was brutally attacked in Chicago by two thugs who yelled “This is MAGA country” as they beat him up and shoved his head in a noose.

‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett hospitalized after possible homophobic attack https://t.co/D4KrPkJREi

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) January 29, 2019

“Empire” star Jussie Smollett was brutally attacked by 2 men who beat him up, put his head in a noose and screamed, “This is MAGA country.”

Sources directly connected to Jussie tell TMZ, the actor arrived in Chicago from New York late Monday, and at around 2 AM he was hungry and went to a Subway. We’re told when he walked out, someone yelled, “Aren’t you that f***ot ‘Empire’ n*****?”

The 2 men — both white and wearing ski masks — viciously attacked Jussie as he fought back, but they beat him badly and fractured a rib. They put a rope around his neck, poured bleach on him and as they left they yelled, “This is MAGA country.”

This is HORRIFIC… and clearly many are already jumping on “TRUMP DID THIS” train:

“Very fine people”

am i right @realDonaldTrump 😡

— Skyler Shuler (@Skylerhxc) January 29, 2019

Horrible news about what happened to Jussie Smollett last night.

It’s almost as if Trump supporters feel empowered to commit hate crimes!

Almost as if they are getting this feeling straight from Donald Trump himself because of what he says, does, tweets, etc!

I wonder why!

— Russell Drew (@RussOnPolitics) January 29, 2019

My God.

Just heard that Jussie Smollet was brutally assaulted in a racist, homophobic hate crime.

This is awful. https://t.co/rSw9G5zIHH

— Shaun King (@shaunking) January 29, 2019

Daily Caller, however, seems to think this is YET ANOTHER CASE of the MSM getting ahead of themselves to “get” Trump.

But in their rush to politicize an indubitably horrific assault and thereby inflict blame upon some of President Trump’s supporters, some media outlets have gone well out over their skis. As Robby Soave of Reason notes, the Chicago Police Department has expressly disclaimed having any information about the assaulters’ race or political views:

Several media outlets referenced claims that appeared in TMZ’s coverage of this matter, most notably that the perpetrators were white and yelled “this is MAGA country,” as they attacked Smollett. But a spokesperson for the Chicago police denied having any information about the race and political views of the attackers.

“According to the victim, the offenders’ faces were concealed,” a police spokesperson told Reason. “We have no record indicating that [they shouted ‘MAGA’], we only have record of them shouting racial and homophobic slurs at him.”

Chicago police have also released a statement contradicting claims that Smollett identified his attackers’ race and heard them shout “MAGA.”

“We have no record of The MAGA Country comment,” said the police in a statement. “We have racial and homophobic comments documented.”

It seems that, in their rush to politicize a terrible tragedy, some media outlets have “reported” much more than the present on-the-ground fact situation would otherwise support.

Sooooo.

Yeah.

EVERYTHING about this story is awful. EVERYTHING.