Jussie Smollett trial: Prosecution rest after brothers testify the actor ordered them to carry out a fake racist and anti-gay attack

Abimbola “Bola” Osundairo and his brother Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo provided critical testimony Wednesday and Thursday during the criminal trial of Smollett, accused of organizing the attack and falsely reporting it to police.

The prosecution rested Thursday evening after three days of testimony in which it called seven witnesses, including the brothers.

Ola Osundairo told jurors that Smollett “had this crazy idea of ​​being attacked by two MAGA supporters” and wanted to “broadcast it on social media”.

“Mr. Smollett asked you to pretend to attack him?” Asked Deputy Special Prosecutor Sam Mendenhall.

“Yes,” replied Ola Osundairo.

“Pretending to be Trump supporters?” Mendenhall continued.

“Yes,” said Ola Osundairo.

“So he could then post it on social media?” Continued the prosecutor.

“Yes,” replied Ola Osundairo.

He said Bola was in charge of hitting Smollett, while Smollett wanted Ola to put a noose around his neck and pour gasoline on him. They eventually replaced gasoline with bleach because, said Ola Osundairo, “I wasn’t comfortable pouring gasoline on someone.”

Smollett, who is black and gay, said two men punched him, shouted anti-gay and racist remarks, tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him on a freezing cold night in Chicago in January 2019. Police first investigated the incident as a possible hate crime and dedicated significant resources to resolving the case and locating the two men.

But after questioning them and finding other evidence, authorities instead determined that Smollett paid the men $ 3,500 to organize the hate crime against him so he could get publicity and a boost in his life. career.

Smollett pleaded not guilty to six counts of misconduct for allegedly making false reports to police that he was the victim of a hate crime. His defense attorney said in his opening statements that he was a real victim and that men viewed the actor as a “brand” or a “target”.

The defense strongly questions Bola Osundairo

The brothers gave the main testimony to the case, making it clear that the attack was still meant to be bogus.

Bola Osundairo was the first of the two brothers to testify, speaking in court on Wednesday and Thursday. He told the court that Smollett “wanted me to pretend to beat him,” and he agreed to do so because he felt indebted to the actor.

“I thought he could help further my acting career,” Osundairo said. “He told me that we would need another person to pretend to beat him. He mentioned that my brother could do it. I said yes.”

The actor asked them to say “Empire, fuck, shit, MAGA,” hit him, pour bleach on him and then run away, he said.

“Who was responsible for this thing?” Webb asked.

“Jussie was,” Bola Osundairo told the jury.

The man also said that Smollett first explained the plan to him in a car where Smollett was smoking marijuana.

“Even though he smokes, do you still think he’s serious?” defense attorney Shay Allen asked.

“He looked serious,” replied Bola Osundairo.

Osundairo said Smollett “wanted to use the mock attack or the camera footage for the media.” He said that while he didn’t expect to be paid for helping Smollett organize the attack, the actor still handed him a check for $ 3,500.

In cross-examination, Allen accused Bola Osundairo of having a desire to work safely for Smollett and that this was becoming a point of growing tension. Osundairo testified that he did not remember it.

“You attacked Jussie because you wanted to scare him into hiring you,” Allen accused, to which Osundairo replied, “No.”

However, Special Prosecutor Dan Webb asked if Smollett had ever spoken about security while this “fake attack” was brewing and Osundairo replied: “No”.

During examination-in-chief, Webb clarified the timing of the alleged hoax on one of Chicago’s coldest nights. “If you hadn’t had advanced discussions with Jussie Smollett, how would you know where he would be at 2 am in a polar vortex?”

“I wouldn’t,” Osundairo replied.

Testimonies were strained at times when Allen asked if Osundairo had sex with Smollett, which he denied, and how “Bola” could not have expected the police to be involved if he Media attention to the story was increasing, as Smollett allegedly expected.

“I didn’t think so,” Bola Osundairo said.

“We’re finally agreeing on something,” Allen replied.

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