Democracy Dies in Darkness

Rep. Bobby L. Rush calls for hate crimes investigation into attack on actor Jussie Smollett

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January 30, 2019 at 1:12 p.m. EST
Jussie Smollett, a cast member in the TV series “Empire,” attends the Fox Networks Group 2018 programming presentation after-party in New York, May 14. (Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.) sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher A. Wray on Wednesday asking for a hate crimes investigation into the attack on actor Jussie Smollett.

Smollett, who is black and openly gay, was assaulted in Chicago early Tuesday in what police have called a “possible racially charged assault and battery.”