Chicago mayor blasts prosecutors for dropping Jussie Smollett hoax charge4Photo© firstpost.com

Chicago mayor blasts prosecutors for dropping Jussie Smollett hoax charge

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CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago prosecutors on Tuesday dropped charges accusing "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett of staging a phony hate crime, a stunning move that drew the fury of the city's police superintendent and mayor, who called the decision a "whitewash of justice."

Smollett, who is black and gay, told reporters on Tuesday that he had always been truthful when he said two masked men threw a noose around his neck and poured chemicals on him while yelling racist and homophobic slurs and expressing support for U.S. PresidentU.S. PresidentU.S. President Donald Trump in January.

But Mayor Rahm Emanuel lambasted the surprise reversal by Cook County prosecutors, emphasizing that a grand jury concluded the attack was a hoax and hammering Smollett as indecent for claiming to be a victim.