Now when others report attacks, people may be skeptical.

I don’t know that he has brought shame to all gay men. He himself is shameful and what he did is shameful. IMO it’s just tarnished him.

To be honest, brian, I had never heard of him before….I do not watch any program except LAW AND ORDER: SVU and FBI ( new show)…..I will catch NCIS on Tuesdays, when I can…..I dvr them most of the time. I love repeats of BOSTON LEGAL—-those writers have wit ( cannot compare to anyone else—they are intellectually over-the top) with a twisted sense of humor—love it!!
Sorry for regressing…. What I hear in the news is taking me aback. This guy had no regard for the hurt he was inflicting upon his own race; where the symbol of the noose is atrocious. What about the consumption of time spent where the police could have been engaged in real crimes?
Why? To bolster his career? To besmirch Trump and his supporters with his fake red-block threatening letters which read MAGA?
There were over two-hundred preventable crimes committed in Chicago during this Smollett (sp) farce ( if I heard right). The hours, the manpower, the overlooking of serious crimes and the monies spent over a falsehood is above reprimandable.

Brian,
Don’t feel shame for your sympathies ever.
This event came at the perfect time. I feel sympathy for Jussie too, he’s obviuosly a lazy couch potato, listening Whoopie and Joy’s hate filled rants on The View, every day, and became a bit unstable, thats all it is.
The world is coming into balance slowly.
Only racists, can fight racism.
Only homophobes can fight homophobia. I could go on, but the list is a black hole to Hell.
It only ends, when people start thinking for themselves, and banish their brainwashing.
Jussie did a great service in waking people up.

As a gay MAGA man, I would say that we still have to be kind to all and reserve judgment. I knew this was a hoax because people don’t stalk people in Chicago during a polar vortex, screaming this is MAGA country. I was in Chicago that week. It was too cold to walk a block, much less attack a man in a low crime part of the city. I’m concerned that our rush to believe people’s stories when they villainize people we fear, yet are misinformed about, well, I’m concerned the anger and violence it incites. I’ve been attacked physically and violently by my fellow gay men for voting for Trump. If I had reported these attacks on my safety, on my life, and my attackers convicted, would I have been greeted with warm words of support? Probably not. Therein lies the problem. We want to believe our tribe, and we want to vilify the ones we are told to hate. This is no different than the Russian revolution or the rise of fascism or even the taliban. But today, tribes who have been marginalized in the past are quick to believe the worst in our enemies. What if we all become individuals who think independently and reserve judgment until empirical facts are proven and available and stop aligning with our tribes and instead aligning with America. We all make America great. We had a recession and a few wars that we need to recover from. Maybe something so benign as MAGA has no meaning but what it says. With all due respect, no one should have run to his defense or rushed to judgment avoid the Covington boy or got on the me-too bandwagon during the Kavanaugh hearings. Victims often lie. We can have compassion, but development of opinions based on no facts is a problem in America that is ripping us apart. Even Robin Roberts looks foolish and unprofessional now. She needed this story to be true to support a narrative she may be too uncomfortable to re-evaluate and abandon. I’ve done that step, and I’d like everyone to join me in giving up our tribes and choosing our American family first over all else.

Hi Brian – I agree with @Momo that this is not a representation of ALL gay men. as this indirectly does not constitute a legal HATE CRIME. he did this because he wanted empathy ???? AND he thought “Empire” would throw a little bit more cash on all his paychecks? Money and Greed turned his mind ? AND he brought this all on himself. I don’t know how much he was making off of his music… PLUS his salary from the show. I’ve never heard of him prior to EMPIRE. dag! he wanted it all, right here and now. who doesn’t ? yet, I will stand with ; you and I and all friends of.. and live the life we bear and VOTE and fight for equality, for people of color and LGBTQ.

even if I’ve never watched Empire nor heard his music… I knew in the back recesses that this man was making inroad AND featuring a GAY MAN.

when you hear on the news that , like never before, hate crimes RISEN … AND you have that much more groups of people with differing viewpoints who are readily sharing supremacy ?

in the past 2 years… you would think we are becoming unglued.. not caring of our fellow man and taking liberties of ignoring our constitution.

Salute

hi Momo–
He has ”lost his job”
he will not go to prison he is charged with disorderly conduct.
Nonetheless; He has created for himself his own prison.

“His narcissism took valuable sources away from the Chicago Police department.”

Yes! He ought to have to repay the city for the expenses incurred in investigating his lies.

And I think this is so much worse than just an individual making a false police report because it got national attention, he went on TV talking about, he talked about it at his concert.

Are you that hungry for publicity that you will pretend to be a victim? It diminishes true victims. The Boy Who Cried Wolf.

hey Timmm–
He will get a fine and community service.

What he did was dirty, bad bad bad..
but- he is charged with ‘disorderly conduct.

The law won’t be the tool to greatly punish him, he will be his own downfall.

And that sums that up Timmm. You just sit back outraged at his blatant ignorance to think this was at all a good idea, and disregard of those who backed him. He needs locking up. He needs a mental health exam. Jurnee and his other siblings will pay the price for his stupidity as well. I’m gobsmacked. How utterly appalling and embarrassing.

He’s gone well beyond making himself look like a fool. If he is found guilty, which seems highly likely, he will have destroyed his own career and gotten himself a prison term.

I truly appreciate that Empire chose to feature a gay black man. YES… VERY unusual.. as the Black Community to this day… will never wholly accept homosexuality. WHY ? I don’t know… as this is just another ring it up against them.. they will never concede.. because of their machismo… and perhaps by women seen as weak… who knows? I will relentlessly voice my opinion on this subject matter.. as all races PLUS sexual orientation in all people of color.. should be on even footing. so much infighting… for naught. have the tactics of fear mongering by the current GOP AND the GOP of the last two years .. done their job? legislated everything they could to keep people of color and sexual orientation stamped out ? kicked to the curb. I don’t think we have totally done ourselves a disservice that we cannot rebound. my only exclamation at this time.. is sincerely supporting the house of representatives do their job and campaign that much for 2020… which is just next year. SALUTE

I would cry

I am an Independent/Libertarian, Scot….and, a Trump supporter. The only choice which makes sense. As an avid believer in national and global follower of politics and its science; I do speak with a modicum of educated knowledge. I definitely do not parrot news; fake news…..nor do I fall, mouth agape, like a wide-eyed gullible fool to whatever propaganda is thrown out there.
I think I can discern veracity from mendacity and weed-out the ridiculous from the truth.
Trump followers are the racists, the homophobes, the liars, the uneducated, the misogynists, the Walmart shoppers, the evil, the heartless, the haters!! Right!! This is what’s out there on a daily basis. None of us is perfect—–to lump us all ( Trump supporters) into one bushel, with a few rotten apples, proves the ignorance of those who utter “them there” words. I never use the word hate….but, there is no stronger expression for me. Thus, dems….hate me if you must; but do not hate me for having different opinions, ideals, and principles from yours.
As you emphasized, Scot—we are all Americans. A proud capitalist country—-no other country in the world can compare to our democracy; our econom; our sense of being; our independence; our goodnesd, our ideals—-please let’s not drown in socialism—never works!!
MAGA!! You are right Trump did not invent that phrase. It was started by Regan and constantly used by Randy Billy Boy Clinton. Yet, because Trump adoptedit, it has become dirty and offensive.❤️

What a beautifully passionate post, Scot! Touche’! I would like to expound upon your notion regarding the left’s well-entrenched stereotype of the in-your-face Trump voter as an ardent wearer of MAGA hats! I happen to live in a highly-Republican area which overwhelmingly supported our president, and I can safely say that in the normal course of any given day since the run-up to the 2016 election, I have seen exactly ONE person donning such headgear in a public, non-political venue. It was an elderly gentleman customer at my bank…a salt-of-the-earth type who was probably of the WW2 generation and who politely held the door for me as I was exiting the business premises…as such, I both thanked him and complimented him on his hat. (Thinking in the back of my mind that I hoped nobody would harass this lovely old man for wearing it were he to wander into unfriendly territory!…..) Even though nearly everyone I know supported DJT, none of us has gone out and about in this supposed fashion staple on any occasion or for any reason, most especially in order to menace people of color or trigger liberals in general.!!! Quite frankly, few of us even own such items and of the ones who do, their caps are strictly kept stored as collectors’ mementos or to appropriately wear whilst golfing at our local private club where nobody seems to object. In other words, the image of all Trump voters being rednecks-at-large who take “great” delight in offending the masses by the regular wearing of that now-famous red hat is largely a myth. Quite frankly, I wouldn’t be caught dead in one….not because I am ashamed to be a Trump supporter, but due to the fact I simply don’t care for any ballcaps as a style statement! Furthermore, I am very discrete in my political activities…I don’t make public declarations with yardsigns, bumper stickers, tee-shirts, anything! And in this day and age, not only do I choose to be private for privacy’s sake, but also because you never know who is unhinged and could act out against one’s person solely based upon a difference of political opinion. And that is a very sad statement of where we are in this country today! The Constitution is supposed to allow all of us the freedom to declare our views and loyalties regardless of whether it pleases one and all…but apparently, in the “Age of Trump,” such rights no longer exist for those of us who have the audacity to love our country and support its leader!

Bravo!!!!!!!! Well said Scot. Amen!!!!!!

“mug shot,” that is…”mug show” is probably his impression of such “publicity.”