Very well choreographed. Designed to elicit emotions (not logical thought or discussion) from both sides. A guaranteed distraction that will have people talking. Remember the KKK guys from The Blues Brothers?
Kinda funny how some of the msm has allowed themselves to actually use the term "alleged hate crime", albeit *after* the charges were dismissed.
Butt first the lawyers will bend Smollett over, @ $600 per hour to defend him against the civil suit from Chicago. 'The city filed the suit on Thursday after the "Empire" actor missed a deadline to reimburse authorities for the hundreds of hours of overtime put in by the Chicago Police Department (CPD) in the course of investigating the alleged underlying hate crime. The city demanded Smollett pay $130,000, but he failed to do so.'