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Hundreds of protesters gathered in downtown Chicago, both in protest and in support of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx over her handling of the bizarre Jussie Smollett case.
As reported by USA Today, civil-rights activists joined the city’s police union and held competing demonstrations to express their varying views on Foxx’s handling of the criminal case against “Empire” actor, whose 16-count felony indictment was dismissed by her office with little warning or explanation.
According to abcnews.com, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, joined by members of Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, led a rally for Foxx Monday morning, praising her work ethic and noting that “she’s done a good job and she’ll do a better job in the future.”
Jussie Smollett was accused of making a false police report that he was the victim of a racial and homophobic attack in late January. Since Foxx dismissed the case, she has been shrouded in criticism from Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago Police Department.
Supporters of the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police reportedly gathered outside her office — some wearing Trump’s Make America Great Again hats – and chanted “Kim Foxx must go,” and “Back the blue,” while holding homemade signs with disparaging messages about state’s attorney, according to the report.
READ MORE: Chris Rock ROASTS Jussie Smollett at NAACP Image Awards: ‘What a waste of light skin!’
“This is about making sure people are treated fairly,” said Kevin Graham, president of the Fraternal Order of Police. “We cannot forgot about victims. There has to be a deterrent if you’re going to have laws and we’re going to arrest people. If there is no deterrent, what are we doing?”
As we previously reported, after Foxx recused herself from the case, it was passed over to First Assistant State’s Attorney Joe Magats, who announced the dismissal of charges but made it clear, “We didn’t exonerate him.”
“We didn’t exonerate him,” Magats said. “We stand behind the investigation, we stand behind the decision to charge him and we stand behind the charges in the case. The mere fact that it was disposed of in an alternative manner does not mean that there were any problems or infirmities in the case or the evidence.”
Meanwhile, the FBI have launched a probe into the alleged secret deal Chicago prosecutors made with Smollett, in which he agreed to forfeit his $10,000 bond and perform less than 20 hours of community service at Rainbow/PUSH.