President Joe Biden’s top choice to head the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division hyped the Jussie Smollett ‘hate crime hoax’ on Twitter in 2019.
That pick, Kristen Clarke, also accused those who questioned the black and gay actor’s claims of being racist.
Clarke is a Harvard graduate who earned her law degree from Columbia. She has spent much of her career in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.
Jussie Smollett subjected to a racist and homophobic attack.
2 white men wearing ski masks attacked him, put a rope around his neck, and poured bleach on him and as they yelled slurs.
Prayers to @JussieSmollett for a speedy recovery from this hate crime https://t.co/Jj5pR5OWrD
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) January 29, 2019
Biden Pick Clarke Promoted Jussie Smollett’s ‘Hate Crime’ Claim
“Jussie Smollett subjected to a racist and homophobic attack,” Clarke tweeted in 2019 not long after the incident. “2 white men wearing ski masks attacked him, put a rope around his neck, and poured bleach on him and as they yelled slurs.”
Clarke added, “Prayers to @JussieSmollett for a speedy recovery from this hate crime.”
Remember, if confirmed, this woman will oversee federal hate crimes.
After her original 2019 tweet, Clarke wrote a few days later that the Chicago Police Department was “demonizing survivors” because law enforcement requested access to Smollet’s cellphone.
Police were investigating the actor’s claims that his “MAGA hat-wearing” assailants shouted racial slurs and pro-Trump rhetoric as they assaulted him.
To be clear — This is a BAD move by the Chicago Police Department. This is NOT how you treat survivors of a hate crime. Stop demonizing survivors and casting doubt on their claims if you want communities to trust that you will take #HateCrime seriously. @StopHateProj https://t.co/RIvF2tltly
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) February 1, 2019
Clarke Called Chicago Police Wanting To Look At Smollett’s Phone A ‘BAD move’
“To be clear — This is a BAD move by the Chicago Police Department,” Clarke tweeted. “This is NOT how you treat survivors of a hate crime.”
“Stop demonizing survivors and casting doubt on their claims if you want communities to trust that you will take #HateCrime seriously,” she added. “@StopHateProj”
It’s unclear what Clarke means – since crimes must necessarily be investigated in order to ascertain the truth about what happened.
The case has taken several turns, with Smollett being charged with felonies for filing a false police report, the charges being dropped, and new charges being brought in early 2020. Smollett maintains that his story is true.
Clarke still criticized a black prosecutor for dismissing the Smollett case.
Prosecutors use their discretion every day.
But when a duly elected Black prosecutor, Kim Foxx, uses her discretion to move on from the Jussie Smolett matter, it’s a different story. A special prosecutor is brought in to undermine her power. https://t.co/hpysYE6eCU
— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) February 23, 2020
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“Prosecutors use their discretion every day,” Clarke tweeted in February 2020. “But when a duly elected Black prosecutor, Kim Foxx, uses her discretion to move on from the Jussie Smolett [sic] matter, it’s a different story.”
“A special prosecutor is brought in to undermine her power” she added.
To be clear, in America’s justice system, the accused are innocent until proven guilty. Stories aren’t merely believed without question because of the immutable characteristics of an accuser or victim.
This is not the only racially-charged controversy Clarke has been involved in.
While in college, Clarke reportedly wrote in Harvard’s student newspaper that black people had “greater mental, physical and spiritual abilities” because of skin melanin.
Clarke later claimed that the article was meant to be satire and attacked Tucker Carlson for shining a light on it.
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