Prosecutors Tease Surveillance Video Showing Jussie Smollett Did a ‘Dry Run’ of Alleged Hate Crime Hoax Attack the Day Prior to the Incident

During opening arguments of the Jussie Smollett trial for an alleged January 2019 hate crime hoax, special prosecutor Dan Webb said that they were going to introduce a surveillance video that shows the former “Empire” actor doing a “dry run” of his alleged attack the day prior to the incident.

Webb told the jury that Smollett was upset that a threatening hate letter that was sent to the studio behind “Empire” wasn’t taken seriously enough, leading him to hire brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to attack him.

That letter was also allegedly a hoax and was sent by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary on the hit FOX drama, according to Chicago Police Department Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

The Osundairo brothers have already told investigators, that they were cut a check for $3,500 after the dry run and given $100 in cash to get supplies to stage the attack at Smollett’s behest and that will be a key part of the case for the prosecution.

Smollett’s defense attorney Nenye Uche said the two brothers attacked Smollett because they didn’t like him and that the check the actor paid the men was for training so he could prepare for an upcoming music video, not as payment for staging a hate crime, as prosecutors allege.

The prosecution got right into showing the jury surveillance video, right after opening arguments, which was painstakingly gathered by the Chicago Police Department.

The surveillance video showed the Osundairo brothers walking around near Smollett on the night of the attack and Chicago police detective Michael Theis reviewed how a series of surveillance, security, and doorbell camera footage was used to track the brothers’ movements and ultimately identify them as the culprits.

Newsmax tweeted:

“Jussie Smollett’s defense attorney said the actor was a ‘real victim’ of a ‘real crime.'”

“‘Everyone knows this is a lie,’ says @ShemekaMichelle.”

Jussie Smollett's defense attorney said the actor was a 'real victim' of a 'real crime.'

"Everyone knows this is a lie," says @ShemekaMichelle. pic.twitter.com/Je7Id2lsZ2

— Newsmax (@newsmax) November 30, 2021

Previously, we reported:

In August 2020, we reported a flashback of how after former “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett accused attackers in January 2019 of shouting racial slurs and saying, “This is MAGA country,” while assaulting him, now Vice President Kamala Harris leapt to his defense in a tweet that is still active on her account.

The tweet by Harris is now again going viral, and in it, she called Smollett “one of the kindest, most gentle human beings” she knows.