Jussie Smollett has insisted he has been 'truthful and consistent' since day one after charges against him were sensationally dropped on Tuesday and he escaped a possible 48-year prison sentence.
Moments after his court appearance, the Empire actor gave no other explanation for the attack, but said: 'I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother's son if I was capable of even one drop of what I have been accused of.
'This has been an incredibly difficult time, honestly one of the worst of my entire life. But I am a man of faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history.'
An unwavering Smollett added: 'I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn't.
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Smollett read from a small piece of paper which had handwritten notes on it after leaving the court hearing
Jussie Smollett said on Tuesday that he had never lied to police as he thanked fans for their support after having the charges dropped against him
It didn't take long for Chicago's mayor and chief police officer to hit back at his claims of innocence.
They slammed prosecutors' decision to drop all charges against him as a 'whitewash of justice' on Tuesday.
Speaking at a press conference with the equally enraged Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson on Tuesday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel insisted repeatedly that Smollett was guilty of staging a hoax attack on January 29 and that he did it for a raise.
He slammed Assistant State's Attorney Joe Magats' decision to drop the 16 felony charges Smollett was hit with by a grand jury, a move he said he took because Smollett is not a 'violent threat' to the community.
Magats' decision comes amid calls for his boss, Kim Foxx, to face investigation for exchanging text messages with Smollett's relatives in the early stages of the investigation.
She tried to wrestle it out of the hands of the Chicago PD and have the FBI take it over at the request of Smollett family friend Tina Tchen, who is Michelle Obama's former chief of staff.
Foxx recused herself from the case because of it and Magats took over but the police union in Chicago says it should have gone to a special prosecutor.
On Tuesday, Mayor Emanuel said the sudden decision to drop the charges proved there is 'one set of rules for the powerful and influential'.
He and Johnson were blindsided by the announcement which they learned of while attending a police academy graduation ceremony.
'Without a doubt this is a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message that if you are in a position of influence and power, you'll be treated one way.
'It is wrong,' Mayor Emanuel said.
Rahm Emanuel joined Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie T. Johnson (left) on Tuesday at a press conference to condemn the outcome of the Jussie Smollett case
Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, worked on behalf of the Smollett family to have the case turned over to the FBI
Assistant State's Attorney Joe Magats said he had decided to drop the charges because Smollett was not a violent threat to the community
He went on to condemn Smollett for speaking out after the court hearing and protesting his innocence.
'Mr. Smollett is still saying that he is innocent, still running down the Chicago Police Department... how dare him. How dare him after everybody saw. Is there no decency in this man?'
Johnson, who publicly condemned Smollett last month and said his lies were 'despicable', also slammed the star for asking that the evidence be sealed.
'I would want my day in court to clear my name. They wanted their day in court with TV cameras,' he said, referring to Smollett's team's eagerness to allow cameras in the courtroom.
'[Now] they choose to hide behind secrecy. You all know what the bond proffer said.'
'We all know what it said if they want to dispute those facts the place to do that is in court not in secrecy,' he said.
Smollett was indicted on 16 felony counts that were returned by a grand jury which Emanuel said it proved that it was not just the police department which thought he was guilty.
'This is not the superintendent's word against his.
'The grand jury saw a sliver of the evidence and they came to a conclusion,' he said, adding that the judge's decision to grant Smollett's attorneys' request to have all the evidence sealed meant that the truth would never come out.
'This is a person now who has been left off scot-free with no sense of accountability of the moral and ethical wrong of his actions, from top to bottom,' Emanuel said.
Magats said it had decided not to pursue the charges because his office prioritized 'violent crime' and that Smollett's alleged wrongdoing did not fall into that category.
The pair said there was enough evidence to convict Smollett but that it would never see the light of day because of the judge's decision to seal the case.
'We did not exonerate him. We work to prioritize violent crime and the drivers of violent crime.
'Public safety is our number one priority. I don't see Jussie Smollett as a threat to public safety,' Joe Magats, Assistant State's Attorney, told https://twitter.com/juliebosman/status/1110591523794632704
Questions have arisen surrounding Smollett's families interactions with State's Attorney Kim Foxx, Magats' boss who recused herself from the case after it emerged she had been exchanging text messages with a member of the actor's family about it.
Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, worked on behalf of the Smollett family to have the case turned over to the FBI
Smollett had been facing up to 48 years behind bars on 16 felony counts of lying to police by claiming he was attacked on January 29 by two men he said he could not identify and who he said called him racial and homophobic slurs.
On Tuesday, an emergency hearing was scheduled during which the charges were suddenly dropped. Smollett agreed to surrender his $10,000 bond but walked out of court a free man.
There is no doubt that brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo attacked but so far, no other motive other than that Smollett asked them to and paid them to do it has emerged.
The question of why prosecutors who had boasted about their evidence against him suddenly dropped the case remains.
Smollett walks past a bank of photographers, adjusting his sunglasses, before leaving the court with his laeyers
After making his statement, Smollett took selfies with fans outside the courthouse then got into a waiting car.
He refused to say whether he planned to fight against Chicago Police Department or the prosecutor's office for accusing him of staging the January 29 attack, but said he would continue to 'fight for justice' and for the 'marginalized' people of the world.
'Hey everybody,
'I just made a couple of notes. First of all I want to thank my family, my friends, the incredible people of Chicago and all over the country and world who have prayed for me, who have supported me and who have shown me so much love. No one will ever know how much that has meant to me. I want you to know that not for a moment was it in vain.
'I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one. I would not be my mother's son if I was capable of even one drop of what I have been accused of.
'This has been an incredibly difficult time, honestly one of the worst of my entire life. But I am a man of faith and I am a man that has knowledge of my history.
'I would not bring my family, our lives or the movement through a fire like this. I just wouldn't.
'I want to thank my legal counsel from the bottom of my heart, and I would also like to thank the state of Illinois for attempting to do what's right. I would like nothing more than to just get back to work and move on with my life but make no mistakes, I will always continue to fight for the justice, equality and betterment of marginalized people everywhere.
'So again, thank you for all the support. Thank you to faith and thank you to God.
'Bless y'all. Thank you very much.'
It remains unclear what prompted the decision but the Cook County's State's Attorney's office said it was due in part to Smollett's 'volunteer service in the community.'
On Tuesday morning, a spokesman told DailyMail.com it was confident in the police investigation into him and still satisfied with its decision to bring charges but would not say why then he was not being prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
'After reviewing all of the facts and circumstanced of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,' they said.
Police have called for an Attorney General probe into how State's Attorney Kim Foxx was exchanging text messages with a member of the Smollett family in the days after the attack, trying to get the investigation taken over by the FBI at their request.
Smollett said in his statement that he would 'not be his mother's son' if he was capable of 'even a drop' of what he had been accused of.
His lawyers refused to answer reporters' questions about whether Smollett would sue the city and admitted that Smollett had agreed to forfeit his bond in order to 'move on'.
She said that brothers Abel and Ola Osundairo were the ones who attacked Smollett but gave no explanation as to why they did it.
There was confusion over whether or not the decision was part of a deal.
Smollett's attorneys insisted that it was not but admitted he had agreed to pay the $10,000 bond forfeiture in order to move in with his life.
Smollett took selfies with fans outside the court before getting in to a waiting car
They have already called for the Attorney General to investigate Foxx for her handling of the case because she tried to have it turned over to the FBI at the request of Smollett's family in the days after the attack.
She was contacted by Tina Tchen, Michelle Obama's former chief of staff, on February 1, on behalf of the Smollett family.
Tchen wanted her to convince Chicago PD to hand the investigation over to the FBI and Foxx agreed to try to.
She then exchanged text messages with an unnamed relative of Smollett's about it who said: 'OMG this would be a huge victory.'
On Tuesday, Smollett's family
