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The charging and arrest of #JussieSmollet is devastating on so many levels. I still believe that hate crime victims should be believed and treated as victims until the evidence proves otherwise.
But when the evidence ends in a false reporting charge it is profoundly damaging. There are scores of unsolved violent crimes in Chicago that require & merit the attention of the CPD. The diversion of their resources to investigate false reports harms victims & communities.
There are also those who will use one incident to disbelieve hate crime victims. I reject that out of hand. There were over 7,000 hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2017 - a thousand more than in 2016. Black ppl are disproportionately the victims.
False reports of other kinds of crime are also not unheard of. If a bank reports a robbery and it turns out to be an inside job, we don’t stop believing that banks are robbed. If this incident makes you disbelieve hate crimes perhaps you were inclined to disbelieve in them.
So I will continue to speak out against hate crimes (which are rising at such an alarming rate) and to demand that the Attorney General, and local law enforcement create real plans to combat and address hate crimes. Victims should be encouraged to come forward -especially now.
Hate crimes not only harm victims, they tear at the fabric of our country & instill fear in our communities. False reports can provide cover for those who want us to turn away from the urgent need to fight against hate crimes.
If you know all the details of the #JussieSmollet incident, but don’t know the facts of even one of the over 7,000 hate crimes reported to the FBI in 2017 (some of which were murders), it’s a problem.
