Now that Jussie Smollett has been found guilty, I hope the left has learned a valuable lesson: stop faking hate crimes.
In some ways, it’s easy to see why Jussie Smollett thought he could get away with his hoax.
Consider this report from CNN from four years ago about the latest FBI crime report. “Thousands of hate crimes – 6,121 – were reported to the FBI in 2016, the report found. That’s up from 5,850 reported hate crime incidents in 2015,” CNN reported. “The rise in 2016 reported by the FBI comes after observers have pointed to an increase in hate crimes and conversations about racial animus and hate speech have been central to political conversations nationwide. The FBI’s report puts more statistical weight behind the argument that the 2016 election coincided with an increase in hate crimes, including by those purporting to be supporters of…” wait for it… “President Donald Trump.”
Why is this important? Because throughout Trump’s presidency, the left tried to create the narrative that Donald Trump was to blame for an increase in hate crimes. CNN made the dubious connection by relying on the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). But, as of Accuracy in Media pointed out at the time, SPLC “collects its data from the #ReportHate page on its website and from ‘media accounts.’ The group did not verify any of the incidents.”
“This is a problem because hundreds of reported hate crimes have turned out to be hoaxes perpetrated by the victims themselves, noted.
But that didn’t stop the mainstream media from perpetuating the false narrative that Trump was to blame for a rise in hate crimes. This is the kind of stuff the left eats up. Not only do hate crime statistics make the United States sound like a racist, homophobic, transphobic, fill-in-the-blank-phobic country, but blaming them on Trump was the icing on the “America is evil” cake–and they made sure they had their slice and ate it, too.
So, Jussie Smollett, a homosexual black actor whose career was on the decline, got it in his head that faking a hate crime against him would revive his career. Of course, he thought it would work. For a while, it did. He got high-profile Democrats speaking out on his behalf.
Kamala Harris called his attack a “modern day lynching.”
Senator Bernie Sanders called the attack “a horrific instance of the surging hostility toward minorities around the country.”
Even Joe Biden chimed in. “What happened today to [Jussie Smollett] must never be tolerated in this country,” he said. “We must stand up and demand that we no longer give this hate safe harbor; that homophobia and racism have no place on our streets or in our hearts. We are with you, Jussie.”
Of course, they believed Smollett because they wanted it to be true. It fit the narrative. These Democrats, and many more, jumped all over it. Smollett accomplished what he hoped to accomplish. He’d raised his profile. He had the country behind him. He had every reason to believe he’d get away with it because he knew so many would want to believe it.
The problem with Smollett’s plan was that his story was so ridiculous and clearly a lie, and the police saw right through it. So did many on the right who quickly determined Smollett’s story didn’t add up.
The left will always believe the narrative before anything else. In March of 2019, journalist Andy Ngo profiled 18 hate crimes blamed on Trump supporters that turned out to be hoaxes. There are hundreds more known fake hate crimes as well. Now that Smollett has been convicted, will liberals devoted to perpetuating “the narrative” stop faking hate crimes? Is it worth the risk of getting caught?
Spoiler alert: it’s not.
Jussie Smollett faces potential prison time for his hoax. Even if he manages to avoid hard time, he’s done incredible damage to his career. If America is such a racist country and hate crimes are really as common as they say they are, there wouldn’t be a need to fake these hate crimes in the first place. Further, these fake hate crimes make it harder to believe real ones.
So, enough is enough already. Liberals, it’s time to stop faking hate crimes. You’re not very good at it.
