The city of Chicago has delivered a letter to Jussie Smollett’s legal team seeking $130,000, a spokesperson for the city law department said.
The city of Chicago is seeking “immediate payment” of the $130,000 “expended on overtime hours in the investigation of this matter,” adding that if the amount is not paid within 7 days the “Department of Law may prosecute” Smollett “for making a false statement to the City” or “pursue any other legal remedy available at law.”
Smollett’s lawyers have demanded an apology from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson for “for dragging an innocent man’s character through the mud,” they said.
“It is the Mayor and the Police Chief who owe Jussie – owe him an apology – for dragging an innocent man’s character through the mud. Jussie has paid enough,” the legal team’s statement said.
Emanuel said on Thursday at a news conference that the actor should “pay the city back.”
“Given that he doesn’t feel any sense of contrition and remorse, my recommendation is when he writes check in the memo section [of the check], he can put the word ‘I’m accountable for the hoax,” Emanuel stated.
Emanuel stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the Chicago police force Tuesday afternoon, denouncing prosecutors for dropping charges against “Empire” star and slamming the episode as a “whitewash of justice.”
Johnson and Emanuel said they were not only furious with the outcome of the hearing but also blindsided by the decision itself, with the officials only learning Jussie Smollett wouldn’t face charges for faking a hate crime at the same time the public found out.
“Where is the accountability in the system? You cannot have – because of a person’s position – one set of rules applies to them and another set of rules apply to everyone else,” Emanuel said. “Our officers did hard work day in and day out, countless hours working to unwind what actually happened that night. The city saw its reputation dragged through the mud…It’s not just the officers’ work, but the work of the grand jury that made a decision based on only a sliver of the evidence [presented]. Because of the judge’s decision, none of that evidence will ever be made public.”
Emanuel also said: “[This case] sends a clear message that if you’re in a position of influence and power you’ll be treated one way and if you’re not you’ll be treated another way.”
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