Vice President Kamala Harris once called notorious hate crimes conman Jussie Smollett the victim of an attempted “modern-day lynching.”
Harris, now a presumptive Democratic presidential candidate, has to this day not deleted social media posts from 2019 repeating the false claims even after her Illinois conviction for a faked attack.
Smollett claimed that in downtown Chicago during the 2019 polar vortex, two masked men “poisoned him with bleach, put a rope around his neck and told him, ‘This is MAGA country!'”
“[Jussie Smollett] “He is one of the kindest, most gentle people I know. I pray for his speedy recovery,” California Senator Harris posted on X (formerly Twitter) on January 29, 2019.
Watch “Jussie Smollett: Anatomy of a Hoax” on FOX NATION
Jussie Smollett, left, was arrested in Chicago on February 21, 2019. Vice President Kamala Harris, right, speaks at a campaign rally at South Carolina State University on February 2, 2024. (Getty Images)
“This is a modern-day lynching attempt. No one should have their life threatened because of their sexual orientation or the color of their skin. We must stand up against this hatred.”
Weeks later, after it emerged that police were investigating Smollett for making a false report, Harris said she was “saddened, frustrated and disappointed” by the news that Smollett had made “false allegations to police.”
But her initial comments were a “rush to judgment” and a “hasty decision made before all the facts were known,” said Eugene Roy, a former chief of detectives with the Chicago Police Department and a veteran of more than 30 years.
Harris’ campaign and White House office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Vice President Kamala Harris’ 2019 defense of Jussie Smollett continues after actor’s failed appeal of trumped-up hate crime conviction
“Empire” actor Jussie Smollett has appealed his Illinois criminal conviction to the state Supreme Court. (Nuccio DiNuzzo)
“It’s one thing to express support for a friend, but it’s another thing to use your position as a government official to prejudge a case before it’s resolved, before all the facts are known,” said Roy, who appeared in the Fox Nation documentary “Jussie Smollett: Unravelling a Hoax.”
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The facts were established in court, with prosecutors presenting evidence that Smollett recruited brothers Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo to stage a fake hate crime. Smollett, who is black and gay, then falsely reported to Chicago Police that he was the victim of a racist and homophobic attack by two men wearing balaclavas in January 2019.
According to court documents, phone records, ride-sharing records, security footage, GPS evidence, text messages and social media messages between Smollett and the Osundairo brothers support the brothers’ testimony that the incident was staged. A jury found Smollett guilty on five of six charges of disturbing the peace after a nearly two-week trial in 2021.
Smollett was convicted and sentenced to 150 days in jail, placed on 30 months felony probation, and ordered to pay $120,106 in restitution to the City of Chicago and a $25,000 fine.
Jussie Smollett’s appeal of his conviction in a fabricated hate crime case will be heard by the Illinois Supreme Court
Brothers Olabinjo Osundairo (right) and Abimbola Osundairo appear outside Leighton Criminal Court in Chicago on February 24, 2020. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)
Smollett is appealing his conviction to the Illinois Supreme Court, which agreed to hear his case in March.
“What should have been a simple case has been complicated by the intersection of politics and public outrage,” Smollett’s lawyers wrote in a February court filing.
Smollett’s lawyers repeated arguments made in a previous appeal that the 2021 trial violates the Fifth Amendment’s protection against double punishment, or being punished twice for the same crime.
The defendants also argued that they had reached a deal with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2019 to have the original 16 counts of disturbance of the peace charges dropped, and that the defendants had already performed community service and forfeited their $10,000 bail.
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Harris spoke at the 2024 NCAA championship team celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024 in Washington, DC. (Andrew Harnick/Getty Images)
Harris, the former California attorney general, wasn’t the only Democrat to be fooled by Smollett’s false story: Her rival in the Democratic primary at the time, President Biden, also posted a tweet condemning the alleged hate crime, which is still available online.
“What happened to @JussieSmollett today will never be tolerated in this country,” Biden wrote on Jan. 29, 2019. “We must stand up and demand that hate no longer thrive and that homophobia and racism have no place in our streets or in our hearts. We stand with you, Jussie.”
Roy told Fox News Digital that it was unfortunate that society valued “short statements” over “thorough and impartial investigations.” He said snap reactions to high-profile legal cases could “cast a shadow” on the public’s perception of the justice system.
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“Again, as government officials we can express support for our friends and supporters, but we should do so in a sensitive and appropriate manner that does not call into question the integrity of the judicial process,” Roy said.
“People have seen who has made hasty judgments on controversial issues and hope they will keep that in mind when evaluating the merits of the candidates.”
Fox News Digital’s Adam Saves and Janelle Ash and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
