Jussie Smollett filed a lawsuit against the city of Chicago, alleging that the police department maliciously prosecuted him, despite having the charges against him dropped.
The Chicago Police Department had filed a civil suit against Smollett after State’s Attorney Kim Foxx dropped the criminal charges against the Empire actor after evidence piled up that he had faked a hate crime. The department was suing to recover resources wasted in the investigation of Smollett’s attack, including $130,000 to cover overtime wages and a civil penalty of $1,000 for each false claim Smollett made.
When Foxx dropped the charges against Smollett, she required him to forfeit his $10,000 bond and complete community service. Because the city kept his bond, the actor argued that the city could not attempt to get more money.
Smollett, 37, announced on Tuesday that he filed a counterclaim against the city.
“Having agreed to accept $10,000 from Mr. Smollett as payment in full connection with the dismissal of the charges against him the City cannot seek additional recovery from Mr. Smollett under the doctrine of accord and satisfaction,” the lawsuit stated.
The lawsuit claimed that police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and other officers had launched a “malicious prosecution” of Smollett and had given “false and misleading information” about the attacks to the press.
Smollett has maintained that he did not fake the attack despite evidence that he had paid two Nigerian brothers to stage the attack.
Foxx announced on Tuesday that she is running for reelection. In her campaign announcement video, she admitted that she did not handle the Smollett case well, saying, “I own that. I’m making changes in my office to make sure we do better.”
