A grand jury returned a six-count felony indictment accusing actor Jussie Smollett of staging a phony hate crime, a special prosecutor announced Tuesday. Smollett, 37, faces six counts of disorderly conduct, Dan Webb said in a statement. Smollett, who is black and gay, was originally charged with disorderly conduct last February for allegedly staging the attack and lying about it to investigators. The charges were dropped the following month with little explanation, angering police officials and then-mayor Rahm Emanuel. The actor sued the city of Chicago in November, accusing municipal officials of maliciously prosecuting him.

Source: CBC News February 11, 2020 23:07 UTC