A grand jury in Cook County, Illinois has indicted disgraced actor Jussie Smollett on six counts after he allegedly faked a hate crime against himself over one year ago, CNN reports.
Smollett claimed that he was attacked by two men wearing red “Make America Great Again” hats in Chicago in January of 2019, claiming they did so because he is gay and black. However, it was eventually revealed that he hired the two men – two brothers from Nigeria – to stage the attack.
He was initially indicted by State Attorney Kim Foxx just two months later, before Foxx suddenly dropped all charges. Subsequently, special prosecutor Dan Webb was assigned to the case and continued the investigation, ultimately producing the grand jury indictment that Smollett now faces.
Foxx’s office released a statement criticizing the charges as “James Comey-like,” since they come just one month before Illinois’ primary elections, where Foxx is running for re-election.
Smollett’s court appearance is set for February 24th.