The fiasco surrounding actor Jussie Smollett is not the only hoax hate crime that has been pinned on supporters of President Donald Trump, as a new analysis shows.
On the same day Chicago police arrested Smollett for filing a false police report after he claimed to have been attacked by two Trump supporters, only to have the story fall apart and his alleged hoax exposed, the New York Post compiled a list of other instances where people claimed to have been the victims of Trump supporters before their lies were revealed.
Some of the examples highlighted by the Post:
- An African-American man was found to have set fire to and defaced a Mississippi Baptist church — the church where he worshipped — with graffiti that read, "Vote Trump" days before the 2016 presidential election.
- An organ player who is gay spray-painted his own church with "Heil Trump" and an expletive five days after the election. He later said he was "scared" and "wanted other people to be scared with me."
- An 18-year-old Muslim woman lied about three drunk men shouting "Donald Trump" at her and trying to rip off her hijab on a New York City subway platform in December 2016.
- A black cadet at the Air Force Academy was found to have posted racial messages directed at himself and four other black cadets in September 2017.
- A 20-year-old African-American told Long Island police in September 2018 that four teenagers yelled "Trump 2016!" at her, slashed her tires, and gave her a note that said "Go home." She later said she fabricated the story.
Smollett originally claimed two men beat him up in Chicago one night last month, dumped bleach on him, put a noose around his neck, and said "this is MAGA country." Police said Thursday, however, he paid two men to stage the attack and he also sent a hate-filled letter to himself.