In his opening statement, special prosecutor Dan Webb said that Smollett’s fakery was not just a criminal act — it was a despicable act that denigrated victims of actual hate crimes.
In his zeal for attention, Webb said, Smollett even “tampered” with the rope his accomplices had put around his neck “to make it look more like a lynching.”
“By the time the police get there, Mr. Smollett has moved the knot closer to his throat,” Webb said, pointing to a surveillance photo that showed the actor walking up the steps to his apartment on the night of the incident with the rope apparently dangling from his neck. “He wanted it to look like something more serious.”
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Webb said Abimbola will testify that days before the incident, Smollett texted him asking for help “on the low.” The two later talked in Smollett’s car, with the actor telling him specifically he wanted them to shout a racial epithet and “MAGA!” to make it seem like the assailants were racist supporters of President Trump.
“I want you to attack me, but when you hit me, I want you to kind of pull your punches a bit because I don’t want to get seriously hurt,” Webb said Smollett told the brothers. Smollett also instructed them to put a rope around his neck to “make it look more like a lynching, like a hate crime,” Webb said.
The three men went on a “dry run” before the attack, part of which was captured on surveillance camera, Webb said. Smollett’s Mercedes can be seen circling the Streeterville intersection, showing the brothers the area where he wanted the attack to occur, Webb said.
Webb said police “reacted swiftly” to Smollett’s allegation, putting the “full force” of the department on the case. At one point they had 26 officers and detectives working it, tallying over 3,000 man hours, according to Webb.