On January 29, 2019, Jussie Smollett claimed he was the victim of a racially-motivated assault in Chicago. Despite the subsequent media frenzy, it became clear that the supposed hate-crime assault was a sham staged by Smollett, apparently to boast his career. Chicago at first refused to charge Smollett. After blowback about this latest example of corruption in the Windy City, a special prosecutor was appointed. Smollett was eventually prosecuted for disorderly conduct for lying to police. He was convicted on December 9, 2021, and sentenced to spend 150 days in custody and to pay a fine of $145,000.

Sadly, this was not the first or last false claim of an anti-black assault by white perpetrators.

To confront this trend, which seems designed to polarize America by race for personal and/or ideological gain, Legal Insurrection Foundation conducted an online event on the subject, Jussie Smollett and The Hate Hoax Pandemic.