Body cam footage dated March 10, shows actor Jussie Smollett being booked into the Cook County Jail. (CBS Chicago / Youtube screen shot)
By Richard Moorhead April 7, 2022 at 3:20pm
Maybe there is at least some justice in this world, even if only it’s fleeting.
New police body camera footage obtained by WBBM-TV Chicago shows Jussie Smollett being booked into the Cook County Jail.
The disgraced actor arrived at the facility on Mar. 10, directly after his sentencing for orchestrating an elaborate hate crime hoax in 2019.
Smollett arrived flanked by sheriff’s deputies, already handcuffed.
“Let’s roll,” remarked a correctional officer after the jail took custody of the celebrity, whisking him through the halls of the facility for intake.
Smollett and the officers were held up in a hallway when some forgotten paperwork was retrieved from the deputies.
“Everything is going to be done right here. One-stop shop,” a correctional officer told Smollett as they arrived in an area of the jail.
The “Empire” star was taken to a series of stations to provide his information to the jail system.
Should Smollett be sent back to jail?
Smollett arrived at a photo station to take his mugshot seven minutes into the footage.
A correctional officer instructed Smollett to change out of his courtroom clothes 24 minutes in.
“We’re gonna take all this property, and they’re gonna bag it and tag it, and they’re going to send it [somewhere else],” the officer explained.
The hoax artist was handed a new jail uniform, a change in style for the musical artist and actor accustomed to dressing fashionably and luxuriously.
A deputy told Smollett that he would be housed in a temporary intake cell while he waited for more permanent housing to be made available.
The video ends before Smollett is asked additional intake questions by jail medical personnel.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office later confirmed that Smollett was being held in protective confinement.
Smollett was brought to the facility after receiving a 150-day jail sentence. Smollett was convicted on five counts of disorderly conduct, a charged used for filing false police reports in Illinois.
Smollett arranged for two Nigerian brothers to fake a hate crime beating, later lying when he told police he was ambushed by white Donald Trump supporters.
The convicted hoax artist managed to get out of jail less than a week into his sentence, with a judge agreeing to let him out while he appeals his conviction.
Smollett isn’t off the hook for his jail sentence, though.
The disgraced actor will have to serve the completion of his sentence if his appeal is unsuccessful.
At least he’ll already know the policies and procedures if he has to come back for jail intake a second time.
Richard Moorhead is a conservative journalist, a graduate of Arizona State University, service member, and guitar player.