A leader of far-left Black Lives Matter voiced support of accused hate crime hoaxer Jussie Smollett this week, claiming without evidence that his criminal trial was a “white supremacist charade” and that policing must be abolished because it is “an irredeemable institution.”
Smollett is facing six felony counts of disorderly conduct, which carries up to a three-year prison sentence per count if found guilty, for allegedly lying to Chicago police in 2019; prosecutors accuse Smollett of fabricating a hate crime hoax on himself for attention.
Melina Abdullah, Director of BLM Grassroots and co-Founder of BLM Los Angeles, praised Smollett in a statement and tried to discredit the Chicago Police Department.
Black Lives Matter’s statement from Abdullah said:
As abolitionists, we approach situations of injustice with love and align ourselves with our community. Because we got us. So let’s be clear: we love everybody in our community. It’s not about a trial or a verdict decided in a white supremacist charade, it’s about how we treat our community when corrupt systems are working to devalue their lives. In an abolitionist society, this trial would not be taking place, and our communities would not have to fight and suffer to prove our worth. Instead, we find ourselves once again being forced to put our lives and our value in the hands of judges and juries operating in a system that is designed to oppress us, while continuing to face a corrupt and violent police department who has proven time and again to have no respect for our lives.
In our commitment to abolition, we can never believe police, especially the Chicago Police Department (CPD) over Jussie Smollett, a Black man who has been courageously present, visible, and vocal in the struggle for Black freedom. While policing at-large is an irredeemable institution, CPD is notorious for its long and deep history of corruption, racism, and brutality. From the murders of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark, to the Burge tortures, to the murder of Laquan McDonald and subsequent cover-up, to the hundreds of others killed by Chicago police over the years and the thousands who survived abuse, Chicago police consistently demonstrate that they are among the worst of the worst. Police lie and Chicago police lie especially.
Black Lives Matter will continue to work towards the abolition of police and every unjust system. We will continue to love and protect one another, and wrap our arms around those who do the work to usher in Black freedom and, by extension, freedom for everyone else.
Smollett claimed in January 2019 that he was targeted and attacked by Trump supporters who used racist and homophobic slurs. Smollett claimed that the attackers yelled, “This is MAGA country,” and then put a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him.
Related: Jussie Smollett Criminal Trial Set To Begin Today 3 Years After Alleged Hate Crime Hoax