There exists additional evidence that actor Jussie Smollett orchestrated a fake hate crime, Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said Monday.
Johnson in an interview on Good Morning America said that although the investigation is still ongoing, "there's a lot more evidence that hasn't been presented yet that does not support the version that he gave." Johnson didn't go into specifics, but he said there's "still a lot of physical evidence, video evidence, and testimony that just simply doesn't support his version of what happened." Smollett last week was charged with disorderly conduct for allegedly filing a false police report; he has said that two men attacked him in Chicago in what was initially investigated as a possible hate crime.
ABC's Robin Roberts asked Johnson about police saying that Smollett paid the two men $3,500 attack him after ABC obtained a copy of the check Smollett wrote that shows "5 week Nutrition/Workout program (Don't Go)" written in the memo line. "Don't Go" is the name of a music video that Smollett was training for; Smollett's lawyers previously said that he paid one of the suspects to "ready him physically for a music video," per People. Johnson told Roberts that the two suspects specifically told police Smollett paid them to help him orchestrate the hoax.
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Johnson also said, however, that Smollett "still has the presumption of innocence" and that he will "get his opportunity in court if he chooses to go that route." Watch Johnson's interview below. Brendan Morrow
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