By Emil Guillermo

And so now the verdict is in. Jussie Smollett was found guilty of five of six felony counts of disorderly conduct, connected to the night Smollett claimed he was mugged by two masked men in Chicago.

The breaking news of the “attack” two years ago only breaks our hearts today. Because the perps were friends and associates of Smollett who testified under oath that it was all planned and staged.

Smollett stuck to his own story and had a few character witnesses. But the jury determined the truth. Jussie Smollett lied to us all.

The attack was the charade, not the trial. The attack was done as a play for our sympathy.

If you weren’t a fan of Smollett on “Empire,” maybe you checked it out. That appears to have been the goal. Smollett became an overnight sensation and people saw him as a traumatized survivor.

Some commentators have suggested Jussie be placed on probation, given no prior record. But not so fast.

There is somewhere under $175,000 the city of Chicago wants back to pay police overtime for investigating the matter. That’s real, and a civil matter. But criminally, he should face some time. Should the system go light on a person who willingly concocted a story of hate? And refuses to be held accountable?

Some commentators mention the ‘dog’ woman in New York’s Central Park, Amy Cooper, who falsely claimed a bird-watching Black man was harassing her. She got community service, but compassion was shown after she admitted her guilt.

Jussie continued to tell his story on the stand. And his defense even says, they will appeal because of the one not-guilty count. But a juror told the media this week they were giving Jussie a break on the sixth count — that of filing a false report on an aggravated battery (the attackers were masked). Since the attackers were always masked, a juror told a reporter that with further deliberation “I think we probably would have found him guilty.”

Hate crimes are real. We don’t get justice for the real race crimes against our communities.

We shouldn’t waste an opportunity for justice on a fake one.

The real harm is that Jussie has now unleashed doubt on all our claims, credibility be damned.

Suni Lee, the Asian American Hmong Olympic champ, a few weeks ago claimed that she was accosted by a passerby in a car who yelled out a racial epithet.

As I recounted the story on my web show “Emil Amok’s Takeout” on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, a viewer put in the chat how he doubted the story. He said it was just like Jussie Smollett. After all, wasn’t she appearing on “Dancing with the Stars,” a show that takes public votes?

I didn’t even think about that. But afterward, I questioned — was there a police report? No. What about her girlfriends who were with her. Did anyone corroborate the story? No.

But the story made its way to all the major outlets, NBC, CNN, New York Times, etc., because there was trust in the Olympic champion.

How about for you or me?

From here on, Jussie Smollet has spoiled that trust for all people of color who speak the truth about race crimes. The hill we climb for justice is steeper than ever.

It’s not like it wasn’t hard enough already.

Emil Guillermo is an award-winning journalist and commentator. A former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” see his work at www.amok.com

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