Prairie State Wire

Oak Park Village Trustee Jim Dodge is hoping to see justice carried out in the case of recently convicted Hollywood actor Jussie Smollett.  

“This whole case has been bizarre from the start,” Dodge told the Prairie State Wire. “Now, let's leave it up to the judge to make a good decision about the punishment he deserves. Does he get hit with community service or a hefty fine? Let's trust the system and let the judge set what's appropriate.”

A Chicago jury recently found the former “Empire” star guilty on five counts of lying to police about  a staged hate crime. The jury returned its verdict on the nearly three-year-old case after deliberating for nine hours over two days.

Smollett, who is Black and gay, told police his attackers placed a noose around his neck and yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him.

Throughout the trial, brothers Abimbol and Olabinjo Osundairo testified that Smollett recruited them to stage the attack near his downtown Chicago home as part of a plot to draw more public attention to himself.

“I would say anyone who files false reports needs to have some form of appropriate punishment,” Dodge said. “It’s a pretty serious matter at a time when law enforcement is being stretched pretty thin. I think the state should be tough on anyone who does anything like this. It can’t go unsanctioned.”

Dodge is also critical of leaders like Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Bernie Sanders, all of whom he argues helped perpetuate Smollett’s lies on some level by speaking out on the case before all the facts about it were publicly known.  

“Anyone in a position of pubic notoriety should default and say let the police and courts do their jobs before speaking out or taking a side,” he said. “Let them get the facts so we can all see what the truth is.”

The drama comes at a time when 2021 has entered the books as one of the most violent years in city history, raising questions if lawmakers like Lightfoot are doing enough to help keep communities as safe as they can be.

By early December, more than 1,000 homicides were documented by the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. Of those homicides, 927 were committed during gun-related crimes.

And much of the violence hasn’t been restricted to the city’s inner-city neighborhoods. A 12-year-old girl was recently shot near North Michigan Avenue as large groups of teens gathered in the area.

At last count, 21 minors were arrested in the incident in which two Chicago police officers were injured and two replica firearms recovered.

 In another incident, a CTA bus driver was assaulted by two minors, who punched him in the head and body.

“I think everyone should step back and look at the whole system,” Dodge said. “Crime is a growing problem now and we should be looking at all the reasons for why that may be, such as education, and lack of opportunity for everyone. We should be thinking about the short-term issues that have caused crime to spike the way it has as well as all the bigger issues within the system. Good public policy doesn’t just happen in a 280-character post.”