This. The apathetic of this nation allowed this cancer to fester and grow. And we minorities are its victims
Empire's Jussie Smollett hospitalized after two men wrap noose around his neck, pour bleach on him: "This is MAGA country!"
- Thread starter ElectricBlanketFire
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Wow, just grim. Hope the best for Smollett, even as I haven't touched an episode of Empire... this merits all kinds of legal action.
There's definitely more to it than a couple of opportunist racists. There's some "backwards B" speculation in the TMZ dumpster fire of comments (I knew I shouldn't have read them) and some "TV show" ratings conspiracy stuff too.
There's a weird subtext there of people hoping it's not real racists rather than just accepting that open racism is on the rise, as if this story is the only example, or that it's an outlier. Even if we find out he staged the whole thing himself for some bizarre reason, that doesn't erase the current climate that our president and elected officials have encouraged and stoked and fomented to the point where random ass white people think they should just be allowed to say and do racist shit all the livelong day, but not be held responsible or HEAVEN FORBID accused of.... being racist.
Also, the people who defend the MAGA hat sound exactly like the weird Confederate flag fliers from Philadelphia and Idaho.
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2000 fucking 19. This fucking country. :(
Don't they film in Chicago? Could be they noticed him a while ago and decided to do this now.
Don't they film in Chicago? Could be they noticed him a while ago and decided to do this now.
I guess I'm a little suspicious? It seems so incredibly cartoonish (especially with the letter) that I can't help think it's like in 2008 when that woman said that Obama people attacked her and drew a B on her face (but she did it herself and drew it backwards because of the mirror lol), or when that black church in Mississippi said that Trump people burned down their building and wrote VOTE TRUMP on the side but it was actually a parishioner.
It was -1 degrees. These guys were waiting outside of a subway station in the freezing cold on the off chance that Jussie showed up? That seems unrealistic? And I'm confused -- it doesn't appear in the police report that anyone said "this is MAGA country"? It also doesn't say in the police report that Jussie broke his rib? I guess I'm just very confused -- this has to be premeditated if it happened as described, but it also seems extremely unlikely they'd be able just to come upon Jussie at the time described.
It was -1 degrees. These guys were waiting outside of a subway station in the freezing cold on the off chance that Jussie showed up? That seems unrealistic? And I'm confused -- it doesn't appear in the police report that anyone said "this is MAGA country"? It also doesn't say in the police report that Jussie broke his rib? I guess I'm just very confused -- this has to be premeditated if it happened as described, but it also seems extremely unlikely they'd be able just to come upon Jussie at the time described.
Jesus H Christ. Fuck everyone who thinks Trump supporting bigots should be coddled when they are consistently perpetrating racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic violence. The GOP is now full of people who want to do this kind of violence or want to excuse/ignore it. We need to stop playing and start realizing how hostile a major portion of this population and sadly populations around the world are to the disenfranchised. This kind of shit should stop being played off as a "different opinion" or "rational anxieties". It's a fucking sickness.
On top of that, they fight tooth and nail to maintain the status quo.
They try to deny us positions of power in society, in government. Try to deny us from money.
Demonize and slander us in their media
Make excuses for those who perpetuate racist bullshit, ignore those close to them who perpetuate racist bullshit
Try to blame us for the problems they cause
Try to gaslight us whenever they fuck up and show their cards
Kill others senselessly and without provecation
This shit really wears you down after a while. Just tired of all the bullshit
It does sound a bit outlandish. But I really can't believe Jussie would make this up because, well, he's a celebrity. He doesn't have much to gain by making this up, but a whole hell of a lot to lose if he did make this up and is caught.
I mean, that's the thing. It's so unbelievable it actually boomerangs back around to believable. Who the fuck would make something this insane up? Jussie has nothing to gain from putting himself in the hospital.
Where did you find the police report? I don't see it at the TMZ link.
Not a fan of calling this a hate crime, it feels inadequate. Call it what it is: attempted lynching.
So you're saying the previously sent letter to Fox was all part of this elaborate scheme to beat himself up, and left out in the cold as well.
And then afterwards, wraps a noose around himself, and then pours bleach onto himself.
What would be the purpose of it? Do you think maybe some others beat him up, and he's just blaming it on MAGA supporters because that'll show the right?
Do you think somebody as famous as he is doing it for more fame than he already has?
Is there some sort of conspiracy that he is trying to take down MAGA by pulling a stunt like this, and having paid people in advance to beat him up?
I'm more curious as to why you're so skeptical other than some of those anecdotal cases from before, and why they would correlate to this one.
That's not to say I'm not skeptical about all of the details in this incident, but it just feels weird to imply it's fake, rather than just saying you still have questions about all of the details.
I'm inclined to believe him until proven otherwise when bigoted violence like this is becoming more and more common.
That's why they investigate. If these guys were actually waiting around for him to come outside, they'll be on a bunch of CCTVs.
That's kind of why I'm more confused than anything, but it wouldn't be the first poor decision that a celebrity made. At the same time, learning more of the details involved did not make me feel necessarily more confident in his story because it sounds like something you'd literally make up about Trump supporters to paint them in the worst light? I don't know, I do feel terrible having some suspicious
That's kind of why I'm more confused than anything, but it wouldn't be the first poor decision that a celebrity made for reasons that seem incredibly obtuse at the moment. At the same time, learning more of the details involved did not make me feel necessarily more confident in his story because it sounds like something you'd literally make up about Trump supporters to paint them in the worst light? And some of the details that are mentioned in the TMZ article are omitted in the police statement, which is odd?
Wouldn't have to be him personally. Could have been enemies at work, angered ex's, an insurance swindle etc etc. But obviously more shoes are going to drop so until that happens, there's nothing impossible about it being some racist "fans" stalking and then beating someone they decided was offensive to their credo. Obviously it wasn't "random" if it's connected to the letter. But there's also the possibility they're two unrelated matters. Ask Leslie Jones if she thinks more than one racist hates her or if more than one racist or homophobe or misogynist or pig has @tted her.
I didn't say any of that -- I said I'm a little suspicious about how it went down, which you also seem to agree with!
This article has the police statement: https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/en...rime_us_5c507c46e4b0f43e410b4a27?guccounter=1
Yeah this story should have corroboration one way or another pretty soon from street cameras.
Ah that's important to know, I didn't realize that. I thought he was just filming on-location for a one-off episode or something.
I didn't say you did, but the anecdotes you provided seem to imply (at least to me) that there was an ulterior motive involved since those other instances there were.
Just felt like it wasn't really necessary to bring them up since the only reason to bring those up would be to question the victim's credibility.
Again, I'm sure there was nothing nefarious about it, but I just don't like seeing those kinds of posts, and it's often a victim blaming kind of approach.
Yeah. I understand the outrage -- certainly the events as described are worthy of outrage -- but I can't help but think we should wait for some investigation before drawing broad societal conclusions, pointing fingers at the media climate, etc. Sadly there are people whose goal it is to exacerbate these sorts of fault lines.
Someone mentioned it but the MAGA country stuff is not in the police report. Does anyone know where TMZ is getting that info?
Do police reports usually have quotes? Idk. Anyone know?
I am merely saying that I have no idea what happened, but the details as are are so unbelievable that I'm a little suspicious they happened as described. We'll most likely get a clear picture of what happened due to security cameras. But there's a thick line between waiting for more information given what was described and calling Jussie a liar -- I was not doing the latter.
If we're to ponder the idea that this is somehow a hoax, the question that needs to be answered is what for?
To paint MAGAs in a worse light doesn't quite make sense to me? Because Jussie is a celebrity largely popular with Black audiences and, well, there's really no painting MAGA hatters in a worse light than we already see them. It would be a largely redundant exercise.
Maybe someone at FOX has an axe to grind? Well, this is an incredibly elaborate way to go about revenge that also carries to risk of getting caught.
I mean, I'm thinking about it, but so far, that Jussie was legitimately the victim of assault is the simplest scenario here.
To paint MAGAs in a worse light doesn't quite make sense to me? Because Jussie is a celebrity largely popular with Black audiences and, well, there's really no painting MAGA hatters in a worse light than we already see them. It would be a largely redundant exercise.
Maybe someone at FOX has an axe to grind? Well, this is an incredibly elaborate way to go about revenge that also carries to risk of getting caught.
I mean, I'm thinking about it, but so far, that Jussie was legitimately the victim of assault is the simplest scenario here.
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Could be some one getting back at Jesse and planting a red herring. Could be actual MAGA people that hates Jesse. We will know.
There's also a thick line between being a "false flagger" and wanting more information given the events described!
Hello, I am the other "don't do violence" European poster back on the other place in 2016, and I would really like to add that the point where violence has entered the picture is where any courtesy previously adhered to goes out the window.
That, and even a passing glance at black history month would tell you how violence would really end.
Police reported that the accused used hate speech. That could mean anything. I assume the victim or his associates filled TMZ in on the specifics of what was said.
Trump supporters don't need other people to paint them in the worst light, they do a good enough job all on their own.
Be prepared for a lot of "I'm just asking questions!" responses. Because.... I mean, you know how this looks, right?
You've made about 3 posts in here expressing your 'doubt'
Cool, we get it already. Wait for more info.
You being so insistent about how it 'doesnt add up for you' isn't helping your case that you claim to not be dismissive of the event taking place.
Why are people always giving racists the benefit of the doubt and the "we need to see the whole picture" excuses?
A poster who I have been posting with since the old forum replied to me so I replied to him, then I saw I had a bunch of notifications and thought people were misreading what I said. This seems to be reading into motivations.
Also where I've arrived.
There are some small inconsistencies - the lack of "MAGA country!" or a broken rib in the police report - but there was an attack. He did go to the hospital.
I believe him until I have an ironclad reason, such as a contradictory conclusion from a thorough investigation, not to.
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