Jussie Smollett suffering from ‘night terrors’ since alleged hate crime
Jussie Smollett (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty)
Jussie Smollett has been having night terrors since he was allegedly attacked in a hate crime in January, according to his brother.
Smollett’s brother JoJo made the revelation in an op-ed published by BET.com.
In the article, JoJo said that his brother Jussie is “as strong as iron,” but said he has been suffering since the alleged hate crime due to “post trauma.”
“I have literally seen him violently awakening from night terrors, following the assault. Some of my siblings, as well as Jussie’s partner and closest friends have seen similar things,” he wrote.
He said his brother Jussie Smollett has been convicted in the court of public opinion
Elsewhere in the article, JoJo said that his brother Jussie had been convicted in the court of public opinion of staging the alleged hate crime, and said people should consider that he might be innocent.
“What concerned me the most is, as the CPD continued their campaign against Jussie, I started to notice an online ‘bandwagon’ approaching ignoring whether there were any real facts to suggest his guilt,” JoJo wrote.
“In an effort to fit in with the momentum on social media, many appeared to roast him, demean him, and laugh at a traumatic and painful ordeal.”
He continued: “While very few people are courageous enough to swim upstream and resist the popular conformity of the day, I still can’t believe how many people failed to ask the question: ‘What if Jussie is telling the truth?’”
“I have literally seen him violently awakening from night terrors, following the assault.”
– JoJo Smollett
Jussie Smollett was allegedly a victim of a hate crime in January
Jussie Smollett saw an outpouring of public support in January when it emerged that he had been the victim of an alleged homophobic and racist hate crime in Chicago.
However, sympathy quickly dried up when charges were instead brought against Smollett, who was accused of staging the hate crime in an effort to boost his acting career.
In March, all charges were unexpectedly dropped against the actor in an unscheduled court appearance.
Jussie Smollett (Nuccio DiNuzzo/Getty)
Speaking to media after his court appearance, Smollett said: “I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother’s son if I was capable of one drop of what I was accused of.
“This has been an incredibly difficult time, honestly one of the worst of my entire life, but I am a man who has faith and knowledge of our history, and I would not bring my family, our lives and the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn’t.”
The city of Chicago is suing Smollett for the cost of their investigation
JoJo Smollett’s op-ed comes just a week after the city of Chicago sued Jussie Smollett in an effort to recoup the $130,000 they spent on police overtime in investigating his alleged hate crime.
A lawsuit was filed on behalf of the city on Thursday (April 11), just two weeks after prosecutors dismissed criminal charges against the actor, who claimed in January that he was the victim of a homophobic and racist attack.
Smollett has maintained his innocence throughout, but Chicago officials demanded he pay a large bill to cover the costs of the police investigation, doubling down on claims he invented the attack.
