Chicago City Wire

Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Chicago) has yet to issue an updated or corrected statement pertaining to Jussie Smollett, even after the former "Empire" actor was found guilty on most of the charges brought against him for lying to police in 2019. 

Even days after the verdict was handed down, Lightfoot had not corrected, amended, retracted, or deleted her January 2019 tweet that read, "My thoughts and prayers are with Jussie Smollett. Everyone deserves to live safely as their true authentic self in this city. As mayor, I will make sure that, regardless of the victim's stature, hate crime incidents and complaints are fully investigated."

A Chicago jury convicted Smollett of five of the six charges brought against him on Dec. 9, almost two years after the fake attack took place.

"Not only did Mr. Smollett lie to the police and wreak havoc here in the city for weeks on end for no reason whatsoever, but then he compounded the problem by lying under oath to a jury," special prosecutor Dan Webb said, according to Fox News. 

Smollett had claimed that on Jan. 22, 2019 he received a threatening, racist, homophobic letter and a week later he was attacked at 2 a.m. in downtown Chicago by two men who made racist and homophobic slurs. According to NBC Chicago, investigators later determined not only did Smollett send the letter to himself, they also suspected he filed a false police report and fabricated the whole "attack" after reviewing surveillance videos. 

Smollett, 39, was originally charged with six counts of disorderly conduct, but was convicted of just five. Sentencing will be scheduled for a later date, but he is due back in court for a post-trial hearing at the end of next month. Fox News reported it's not likely Smollett will serve any time behind bars.