Radar Online
Jussie Smollett, who is spending 150 days in jail in addition to 30 months' probation after he claimed that he was part of a racist and homophobic hate crime by two brothers in Chicago, has one person in his corner: Beyoncé‘s mom, Tina Knowles.
On Wednesday, March 16, Knowles stuck up for the Empire actor, who was found guilty on five counts of felony disorderly conduct for lying to the police, and he was also charged with a sixth count of felony disorderly conduct for lying to a detective in the weeks following the “attack.”
“No matter what opinion you have of whether or not Jussie Smollet did what he is accused of or not. The punishment does not fit the crime,” she began via Instagram. “People walk away free from killing our people everyday. How many instances of our young Black people have been murdered in the last year, and the people whom they were with are walking free! And what about the people involved in the treason at the White House? Most went unpunished!”
She continued, “And then they give this man five months in Jail. Are you kidding me? This is unjust. This man is not a threat to society. This is an example of the disparities between how we are treated as opposed to our white counterparts. Black people we cannot afford to let this slide! Trust me you and your family might be next! So let's make some noise about this and ask for probation! The judge was obviously biased and very disrespectful and they wanted to disrespect and discredit the previous District Attorney Kim Fox, who was a Black woman. Please do your research about the case and look at the crime he is accused of and look at the time given him. They want to destroy this man. BTW If you have a difference in opinion I totally understand that but keep it positive ❤️🙏🏽.”
Of course, people immediately backed up Knowles' statement. One person wrote, “FREE JUSSIE!!!” while another added, “The punishment definitely doesn't fit the crime, but I do believe he lied and probation & fines are enough.”
A third user stated, “I so agree Mama Tina. This is terrible and I'm praying for him!! 🙏🏽 #FreeJussieSmollet.”
One day earlier, Smollett's brother Jocqui Smollet revealed that his brother is no longer in the psych ward, and he was moved to a different jail cell.
“I just got to see him. I just want to give you all an update. Thank you so much for the support, for the #FreeJussie movement. It's working. He has now been moved to a new jail cell, out of the psych ward that has a bed. Before he was sleeping on a restrained bed and now he has moved into a jail cell that actually has a bed, so thank you so much, that is really because of all the #FreeJussie that has been going on. It's all the pressure that we're applying on Cook County Jail,” he told his followers.
He added, “There is no evidence linking Jussie to this crime. There is absolutely no evidence, no emails, no letters, no phone calls, no text messages, none of that, of Jussie saying, ‘I am planning an attack on myself.' There is none of that happening, so please continue to fact check people, to fact check the media wherever possible, and thank you so much for the folks who have sent letters to him. You have no idea how great that is to keep him going and keep him strong and keep him focused on the task at hand. He is so, so grateful for the letters. He has read all of them, and he is going to reply to every single one of them.”
