Prosecutor: ‘Overwhelming’ evidence Smollett faked attack
By DON BABWIN and SARA BURNETT
Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) — A prosecutor in the case against Jussie Smollett says the former “Empire” actor lied to jurors about staging a racist, anti-gay attack against himself in downtown Chicago. Prosecutor Dan Webb told jurors during his closing argument Wednesday that there’s “overwhelming” evidence Smollett faked the January 2019 attack. Smollett is charged with lying to police about the alleged hate crime. An attorney for Smollett is expected to give a closing argument later Wednesday. The jury is then expected to deliberate whether Smollett is guilty on six counts of a low-level felony for lying to Chicago police. On the stand, Smollett has repeatedly denied the attack was a fake, telling a prosecutor “there was no hoax on my part” and that two brothers who testified against him are “liars.”