Hey, it’s a damn fine hardware store. I like the Ace Hardware at Clark and Devon better, but only because I can get to the Ace on a single bus ride.
I think several levels of the police department are pretty pissed about all the leaks.
I would bet some in the lower levels of the police department were pissed that they were being played in national media which is why there were leaks.
I would guess he shares the same biases presented by the op of this thread and acted to promote them.
I didn’t get that from the OP at all. I got that OP would have rather whatever this was had not happened AT ALL, plus dismay that such a hoax it will strengthen the hand of those who claim all such incidents are fabrications which IS a reasonable concern.
Yeah, that would have been perfect! 
I don’t know if that’s true. I mean, BBC cameramen don’t get attacked at other people’s rallies (including other GOP candidates/officerholders’ rallies). That is not to say that rank-and-file Trumpettes are violent people, just that he seems to attract more of them. Generally speaking, political violence on the left and the rest of the right seems to happen among those who are on the fringe and well beyond the mainstream candidates’ spectrum (and thus not at campaign rallies).
But I can’t imagine what Smollett hoped to achieve. Apparently there were eyewitnesses because there are statements from others about the “attackers” wanting to MAGA; it’s not as though the attack took place in Idaho and none of the witnesses would have noticed the attackers were black.
Seriously? This is the first I’ve heard of eyewitnesses.
There was a report that he was on the phone with his manager during the attack (yes, a trifle hard to believe), and the manager heard the claimed “this is MAGA country” taunt.
I think this story has about run its course, having received the attention it deserves at this point and no more. If this had been the first case of this, that would have been another story, but this sort of thing happens much more often than actual caricatured prejudice displays, especially attacks, which is why I was suspicious of this in the first place.
I think it would have been worse if it had been more subtle and thus easier to believe.
I’m actually really curious as to how they figured it out. Up until a few days ago the only evidence was this picture. I’m guessing someone who knew the whole story tipped off the police.
Well yeah, Trump has the kind of problem with violent supporters that most don’t because of his own public statements, such as expressing a like for excessive police force or his devil may care reaction in regard to the Montana politician who assaulted a reporter. I’m talking about the words “Make America Great Again” and how much some seem to read into them viewing them as threatening standing alone, whereas I think endorsing that regalia may inextricably tie you to some things but I don’t infer so much. To demonstrate, over the weekend this got a lot of traffic: Professor says someday MAGA hats will be shameful secrets, like Klan robes
I thought one of the news articles I read referenced onlookers, but I may have been mistaken.
The implication seems to be that it was the Osundairo brothers.
They were grabbed as they got off a plane, were designated as suspects and questioned extensively. The result was that they were released without being charged, and the police announced that the “trajectory” of the investigation had changed.
Given that the current story is that they were involved (bought the rope, rehearsed the “attack”, agreed to be paid $4000, etc.), it seems likely that a condition of their release was their willingness to testify that Smollett was the mastermind.
Right, but how did they know to arrest the brothers in the first place?
(emphasis added)
Are you saying that there are more fake assaults (fake hate crimes targeted at non-whites) than real ones? I’m asking because what you’re saying is not really clear, at least to me.
They were identified initially by appearing in video near the scene and time of the alleged attack. That didn’t make them suspects or subject them to arrest by itself. Police initially were just looking to interview them. Since they weren’t available that certainly could have gotten some investigation just by itself.
I’m saying that there are more fake assaults by people displaying nooses, wearing MAGA hats, and yelling “this is MAGA country”, than there are actual assaults with those sort of blatant characteristics. The less blatant the attack and/or threat, the more likely it is to be genuine. As others have said, why even bother with a noose when simply attacking people will accomplish as much?
Now, this applies to certain words and symbols more than others. I’d include KKK references amongst things that would raise my suspicions. Now, at the opposite end are homophobic slurs, which are used even against men whose orientation is not known. The inclusion of those does not up the unbelievability level.
Thanks for the clarification.
From what I gathered from various articles is that it was old fashioned police work. There were pretty much no one else on the street in the middle of the night and lots of cameras. They were able to follow them back to their point of origin.
The current theory that is being put out in the media is that he received a genuine threatening letter some time ago and he was upset that it didn’t receive enough attention.
I view it differently for most people.
There’s a need to demonstrate that racist and homophobic attacks occur, that it’s a problem, and to an extent, blame it on political opponents. But at it’s root, it’s simply a need to demonstrate the problem of racism and homophobia. So there’s a “demand” for these kinds of attacks. Not because anybody wants these attacks per se (obviously), but because if something is a major, widespread problem, you want instances to point to in order to punctuate the message, to demonstrate the problem.
Fortunately, the supply is actually quite low. The chances of a black person being the victim of a hate crime in the US is 0.03%. LGBT a bit higher at 0.07%. So you get what we got last week, which is the way he wanted it. Well, he got it.