the Jussie Smollett incident - what say you wordforge?

Discussion in 'The Red Room' started by oldfella1962, Jan 31, 2019.

  1. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    okay I'm not taking a side here.....I'm just presenting all the facts that have been revealed so far. Also I am bringing up questions & comments that are OPINION ONLY at this point. For those who haven't heard, a gay black actor (relevant to the incident trust me) was allegedly attacked by two men in Chicago. The attack occurred near the building where he was staying during filming of the show EMPIRE. He had some liquid poured on him, a rope tied around his neck as if it were a noose, and racial/homophobic slurs yelled at him and the attackers also yelled "THIS IS MAGA COUNTRY!" With that said:

    1) he left the rope around his neck for over a half hour :chris:
    2) he had to walk past the building security guard just after the attack (wearing the rope) yet the security guard didn't find this noteworthy. Jussie didn't tell the guard what had just happened either. :chris:
    3) so far the "persons of interest" were across the street for much of the time that surveillance cameras filmed them :chris:
    4) Jussie was on the phone when the attack began and the person on the other end heard the attackers yell "This is MAGA country!" yet Jussie would not give the cops access to his phone to check it out :chris:
    5) a winess didn't give a description of the "persons of interest" until after the cops released pictures of the persons of interest from surveillance cameras. :chris:

    well the links are here (search for more of course! The story is being updated as we speak) and of course as the cops gather facts we will know more. Again not saying it didn't happen, but the attackers seem to be the picture-perfect stereotype. Sometimes even if something "sounds made up" it can indeed be true! Okay I just made some popcorn - do your thing wordforge! :yes:

    https://www.yahoo.com/gma/details-e...ws-actor-161903525--abc-news-celebrities.html

    https://trend24h.net/gb/empire-star...-attack-by-maga-supporters-tmz-newsroom-today

    https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/jussie-smollett-attack-persons-of-interest-1203124128/

    https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/29/arts/television/empire-jussie-smollett-attacked.html

    https://www.etonline.com/jussie-smo...-release-photos-of-persons-of-interest-118501
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
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  2. Chaos Descending

    Chaos Descending 14th Level Human Cleric

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    Well, I believe him until the facts reveal otherwise. I note that it seems fishy, but I am not about jumping to conclusions anymore.
  3. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Liberal Queen of TNZ

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    Seems like a clear hate crime.
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  4. Dinner

    Dinner 2012 & 2014 Master Prognosticator

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    Most of the time you are supposed to do the opposite. Make decisions based upon facts and not the absence of facts.
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  5. Fisherman's Worf

    Fisherman's Worf I am the Seaman, I am the Walrus, Qu-Qu-Qapla'!

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    :facepalm: He's basing his belief on the facts as we know them. The absence of some facts doesn't mean there aren't any facts.
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  6. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    yes, if true it is a cut-and-dried hate crime. If not, it's just a fairy tale. If not proven true Jussie won't be charged with a false police report, because nobody can prove that it didn't happen.

    This is a very intriguing case! At this point it seems that the story "checks all the boxes" all too conveniently. "This is MAGA country!" seems to be the tipping point of credibility for a lot of people.
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
  7. Zombie

    Zombie dead and loving it

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    Hoax.

    No video shows an attack.

    He went off camera for 60 seconds and came back wearing a noose.

    His story that two people where able to recognize him as the actor from Empire under all that clothing, because it was 7 degrees below zero that night, and they just happened to be carrying a pre-made noose and warm bleach (it would be frozen otherwise) and they were wearing MAGA hats and they used racial slurs stretched credibility.

    Those two other people in the video? They left the area a half hour before the alleged attack. Police just want to ask them if they saw other people.

    He refuses to let the police see his phone so they can confirm he was on the phone with his manager at the time of the attack.

    He wore the noose for forty minutes.

    Yeah. Hoax.
    Last edited: Jan 31, 2019
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  8. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    possibly but who knows how this will play out? A lot of people want to believe it's true that's for sure! Regardless nobody got hurt other than Jussie has a tiny cut on his cheek that (I don't think) even needed stitches. But damn that 4o minutes of wearing the noose, and not letting the cops check out your phone calls raises a big red flag to me! And what was poured on him? Did it smell, did it burn?
  9. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Liberal Queen of TNZ

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    To be fair there are more than a few pieces of shit who do awful things in the name of Trump. Whether intended by Trump or not, he has emboldened a lot of racists, bigots and other garbage people.
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  10. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    oh no doubt Trump is the root of the problem. As far as I know there were ZERO race/hate crimes until he was elected. I don't even think the term "hate crime" existed until Trump was elected!
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  11. Quincunx

    Quincunx anti-anti-establishment Staff Member Administrator

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    I'm hard pressed to come up with a plausible motivation for faking an attack, given that any deception is very likely to be uncovered. Most false reports are made by people struggling with significant social adjustment and mental health issues. A successful young actor/musical artist on the rise has everything to lose and very little to gain by perpetrating a hoax. That said there is definitely more to the story than has been reported and hopefully the police will be able to get to the bottom of exactly what happened.
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  12. Man Afraid of his Shoes

    Man Afraid of his Shoes كافر

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    No. There has always been hate crimes in the US. They've just been on the increase lately for some mysterious reason. :shrug:
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  13. Tuttle

    Tuttle Listen kid, we're all in it together.

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    "Hate" crimes - even applying the broadest mind reading brush available - represent a tiny slice of US population, probably fewer than a fraction of a tenth of one percent of US pop., and grossly disproportionate to the coverage. And that is to ignore the Occupy Wall Street/Antifa/Sharpton brand of leftwing extremist hate groups, so combined maybe they reach a tenth of one per cent. Does anyone think these hateful tiny minorities of the population represent a larger presence in the US?
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  14. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Liberal Queen of TNZ

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    I didn't say that, no one did. Are you even capable of debating anything? Because you constantly do this shit and treat any hard truth that you want to ignore as some sort of attack. You may not be a bad person, but you're basically sticking your fingers in your ears when someone points out that you should be aware of anything. You could do actual good, but you're refusing and what does that make you?

    They aren't a large part of the population but that doesn't mean they aren't a problem and one that we need to address because of where they lead if allowed to continue unchecked or try to ignore it because you feel like it's attacking the majority for some bizarre reason. We only have to go back a few decades to see that.

    It is quite the mystery. The KKK and Neo-Nazis openly admit they're growing since Trump was elected, but that can't be connected because Trump certainly hasn't repeated their rhetoric like "America First", wanting to ban certain minorities from entering the country, or tried to limit the civil rights of several minority groups who are all citizens.
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  15. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    "The KKK and Neo-Nazis openly admit they're growing since Trump was elected"

    :rotfl: oh yeah they're growing! Their membership doubled from 15 to 30! :lol: Seriously I think fully .00000001 percent of the violent crimes in this country are committed by KKK or Neo-Nazis.
    Holy shit how can we as a nation bear such a horrific onslaught?
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  16. Tuttle

    Tuttle Listen kid, we're all in it together.

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    ^Continue to prosecute crimes as we're doing.

    And fight the assholes we disagree with with argument and ostracizing and mocking derision, not infringement of free speech or violence. That's our system and it's survived so far. There has been no good reason presented yet to change it.
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  17. Dayton Kitchens

    Dayton Kitchens Banned

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    Why? Shouldn't you not believe until evidence supports the accusation?
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  18. Dayton Kitchens

    Dayton Kitchens Banned

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    The same thing was said about Reagan and virtually every other Republican president. The KKK actually endorsed Reagan in 1980 and said the GOP platform "looked like it had been written by a klansman".

    Reagan rejected the endorsement though he was criticized by the Carter campaign for taking more than 24 hours to do so.
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  19. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Liberal Queen of TNZ

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    Would you feel the same way if this was about a Democrat? I highly doubt it. Not that you'll even consider it. You're too far gone.
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  20. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Liberal Queen of TNZ

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    Reagan did the right thing. Trump hasn't. That's the difference between the two of them. Does that not concern you on any level? Probably not.
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  21. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    I'm not too far gone to do basic math! Let's see....the weekly Jail Report has a few armed robberies, a stabbing or two, three or four shootings, two homicides.......well I'll be damned, not one crime committed by the KKK or a neo-Nazi. :chris: Wouldn't you know it a whole years's worth of Jail Reports and STILL no KKK or neo-Nazi criminal activity! :huh: Maybe they are just doing a great job of "staying under the radar" those crafty bastards! :drama:
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  22. Tererune

    Tererune Troll princess and Magical Girl

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    Means nothing other than the reality he was dazed from the attack and probably wanted to get to a safe place or find the police. Maybe the guy did not even notice given he probably is used to a tie being around his neck. He may not have even wanted to touch it as it might have physical evidence from the people who did it that could have been damaged. You go get jumped on the street and see how many weird moves you make.

    You just got jumped by a racist and authority figures are not trustworthy to black people or gays. Maybe you want to get someplace you feel safe and has people you know around you and not go running to the nearest rent a cop and hope he is not prejudiced. Maybe you are focused more on being followed and getting to a specific location where you will be safe and you pass up places you do not know.

    Your ideas are stupid.
    I don't even get your excuse for the attackers here. They saw a person they wanted to beat up so they crossed the street to do it. In your white bread racist world people don't cross the street to beat others up?

    As far as I am aware no phone records conversations for future playback. Since the police have interviewed the person on the other end that is all they can do. There would be no recording of the incident unless he activated his camera which would not have been convenient while on a call, and if you were jumped. What sort of fucking technically retarded racist asshole are you?
    If you read the articles in question you would have read that the person who tried to identify the guy they saw with the rope did not actually match the surveilance cameras in the area and the police have yet to be able to find the guy the witness identified in any video recorded. If the witness is wrong, it does not mean the rest of it did not happen. It also only confuses the situation an investigation and weakens the case.

    Your logic is stupid, your insinuations are crap, and your point white klan hat is showing mr. grand old wizard of wordforge.
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  23. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    Trump hasn't done "the right thing" meaning appease the left - who will still hate him and mock his efforts no matter what? Why should he even waste his breath? Change my mind.
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  24. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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    well Tererunt is in fine form! I prefaced the thread with "I'm not taking sides" and that I'm keeping an open mind. Not Tererunt's cup-of-tea I guess. Different strokes for different folks I guess!
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  25. Awesome Possum

    Awesome Possum Liberal Queen of TNZ

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    Saying he’s against hate groups using his name to gain support and hurt people is appeasing the left? I figured that was the bare minimum of behavior. I’m saddened that you’re more concerned with another political party gaining some imaginary points in a game than actual crimes and evil being spread. That’s why I say you’re too far gone, I’m not sure why I even bother responding to you. I don’t see this as a right vs left thing, it’s disgusting that it’s somehow become that. It should disgust you that they’re even trying to claim that they’re on your side, but you’re more upset at the left as if this is somehow their fault.
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  26. oldfella1962

    oldfella1962 the only real finish line

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  27. Quincunx

    Quincunx anti-anti-establishment Staff Member Administrator

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    It's not just the left who were disgusted with his attitude post-Charlottesville. Most Republican politicians, along with top military and business leaders, felt the need to issue strong condemnations in place of the president's weak equivocations. As for Reagan, when there was a KKK cross burning incident early in his first term, he made a point of visiting the victimized family to show his support. That's what a president worthy of the office does.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-burned-on-their-lawn/?utm_term=.83d2c3df78c0
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  28. Chaos Descending

    Chaos Descending 14th Level Human Cleric

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    Common decency. You should look up the term. If you don't understand, let me know and I'll try to help you out.

    Biblically, witness testimony (for example, his) is evidence. Until he accuses a specific person (who then subsequently denies the accusation), or contrary material evidence comes to light, I have no reason to disbelieve him.
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  29. Paladin

    Paladin Overjoyed Man of Liberty

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    If it happened, those who did it should be found and prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

    If--as appears increasingly likely--this was some kinda hoax, Smollett's career as an actor should end and his career as an inmate should begin.
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  30. Man Afraid of his Shoes

    Man Afraid of his Shoes كافر

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    Were any of them Antifa? Because you sure as hell have a bee in your bonnet about those guys.