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Jussie Smollett Hoax Charges Dropped

Getty Images/Nuccio DiNuzzo/Daily Caller

Caitlin McFall Video Journalist
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Chicago police are still reeling from the decision Tuesday by the district attorney’s office to drop all 16 of the federal charges that actor Jussie Smollett was facing.

This shocked not only the police, but Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said, “This is a whitewash of justice. A grand jury could not have been clearer. Where is the accountability in the system?”

The dropped charges came just 18 days after a grand jury indicted Smollett for allegedly falsifying a homophobic and racial hate crime attack by, in part, paying two men to assault him in January — or at least make it look like he was assaulted.

There has been very little explanation as to why the charges were dropped. But Joe Magats, the first assistant state’s attorney in Cook County, Illinois, said in an interview with ABC that there were more than “5,700 [other cases] that have gotten some type of alternative or deferred type of prosecution involving a dismissal at the end of the case.”

All the charges were dropped on the basis that Smollett agree to forfeit the $10,000 bond he had paid to be released from prison, and because of the two days of community service he had completed. (RELATED: Jussie Smollett’s Lawyer Says He Hasn’t Ruled Out Suing The City Of Chicago)

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said he thinks this sets a poor precedent for anyone that actually experiences a hate crime.

“He used the hate crime laws to advance his own career, and he got caught at it,” he said in an interview with CNN. “And his entire penalty, back to society, is two days community service – it’s just not right.”

Tune in to see what has happened with the Jussie Smollett investigation.