Introduction
Within a month's span, we have had some high profile cases. The Kyle Rittenhouse trial had major self-defense implications and despite the prosecution pulling every dirty trick up its sleeve (more on that here), the jury found him not guilty on all charges. There was also the Ahmaud Arbery trial where Greg McMichael, Travis McMichael, and William Bryan were found guilty of murdering Arbery (check Nate The Lawyer's video on the defense). The latest one? Jussie Smollett.
In January 2019, former Empire actor Jussie Smollett claimed that after getting a Subway sandwich, he was assaulted by two white men wearing MAGA hats who tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach all while shouting racist and homophobic slurs. This alleged altercation happened in the middle of Chicago at around 2 am.
The alleged story quickly spread around the political sphere, Hollywood, and the mainstream media who condemned the attack. However, as more and more details came in, it turned out that Smollett was lying, resulting in Chicago filing a lawsuit against the actor. Over 2 years after he pulled off the hate crime hoax, on December 9, 2021, Jussie Smollett was found guilty on 5 of the 6 counts by the jury. These were the charges the jury found him guilty for:
Disorderly conduct: Falsely telling the first police officer he was a victim of a hate crime.
Disorderly conduct: Falsely telling the first police officer he was a victim of battery.
Disorderly conduct: Falsely telling the second police officer he was a victim of a hate crime.
Disorderly conduct: Falsely telling the second police officer he was a victim of battery.
Disorderly conduct: Falsely repeating to the second police officer that he was a victim of battery.
It has been a long time, but at long last, Smollett is held accountable for his actions. Unfortunately, it did not come without major consequences.
Throwing Skepticism Out the Window
The details behind the alleged attack were very suspicious. At that time, Chicago was in the middle of a polar vortex and temperatures were around -10 Fahrenheit (or -23 Celsius in metric). The freezing point for bleach is around 5 Fahrenheit or -15 Celsius. Secondly, wearing MAGA hats in the middle of Chicago, an solid Democrat stronghold, is complete suicide.
That was not even the worst part. The two white attackers were not even white, but of Nigerian descent. Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo, the two "attackers", were actually paid by Smollett to stage the fake altercation.
However, that did not stop politicians, particularly Democrats, and the mainstream media from immediately believing Smollett's allegations. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker went as far as to call it a "modern-day lynching", and used that opportunity to push their "anti-lynching bill".
On top of that, some were even deeply offended at the notion of approaching his story with skepticism. From CNN to CBS to ABC, commentators criticized those who did not buy into Smollett's story. One commentator from ABC's "The Talk" called the actor a "victim of people's disbelief" while a CNN anchor implied that the US is a racist country with her "This is America in 2019" line.
In February 2019, ABC News' Robin Roberts interviewed Smollett where he called his doubters "fear mongrels" and accused them for brewing division (@ 7:07). He claimed that if he was attacked by a Muslim, a Mexican, or another black person, he would have gotten more support (@6:50). On top of that, he claimed to have been targeted for going "really, really hard" against Donald Trump (@10:33). The interview ended up aging poorly in an instant as just mere days later, Smollett was arrested by the police for filing a false report.
Closing Thoughts: Always Approach with a Healthy Amount of Skepticism
Overall, politicians and the mainstream media were quick to believe Smollett's alleged story because it fueled the "America is a racist country" narrative. White men wearing MAGA hats assaulting a gay, black man while shouting homophobic and racist epithets? It was too good for them to pass up.
However, emotions do not substitute for facts nor do they excuse throwing skepticism to the wind. Allegations are still allegations until they are proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Politicians like Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, and Cory Booker plus the mainstream media failed to adhere to a very basic principle (and Harris was a prosecutor for crying out loud!).
Even worse, there are some who are still doubling down or refuse to own up to their mistakes. MSNBC decided to appeal to emotions with a sub-headline that read "Jussie Smollett guilty verdict will be used by Trump supporters to prove Democrats wrongly label them villains". Here's a newsflash. If you don't want your perceived enemies to use the Smollett verdict as political ammunition, then you should not have bought into his fake story in the first place.
False allegations are not to be taken lightly. They destroy people's trust, and siphon precious time and resources from law enforcement that could otherwise be used to help actual people in need. An environment that reliably verifies true allegations and weed out the false ones would be most ideal.
So what is the lesson after all of this? Take allegations seriously, but do not immediately take them at face value. Always take the time and do due diligence to verify the claims. Leave your personal biases out of the matter and practice mental self-restraint. Avoid and learn to detect argumentative traps such as the Appeal to Consequences.
