Jurnee Smollett Calls For Cook County To “FreeJussie” Following Brother Jussie Smollett’s Thursday Sentencing
’s Thursday sentencing to 150 days in jail for staging a fake hate crime back in 2019.
“Black Americans are incarcerated in state prisons at nearly five times the rate of White Americans. Jussie is innocent,” the younger Smollett wrote on Instagram on Saturday. “And…you don’t have to believe in his innocence to believe he should be free. #FreeJussie #StopLockingUpOurPeople.
Smollett called the police on January 29, 2019, claiming that two men in ski masks had attacked him outside of his apartment building, while spewing racial and homophobic slurs and exclaiming, “This is MAGA Country,” in reference to former President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan.
Smollett’s sentencing came on the heels of his conviction in December of 2021 on five counts of disorderly conduct, associated with his false police reports. His sister Jurnee’s Instagram post can be found below.