Crime

Jussie Smollett still insists the alleged assault he suffered in January 2019 is not a hoax, but now says there's evidence to back it up ... and suggests there are forces working against him to keep the truth hidden.

The former "Empire" star opened up about the infamous "hate crime" that went down in Chicago -- more than a year and a half ago -- in a rare interview, because he's over staying quiet about the case.

Jussie tells activist Marc Lamont Hill he doesn't believe the City of Chicago or law enforcement will ever stop going after him, and he believes they are trying to make an example out of him ... even though he claims he didn't do what he's accused of doing.

Smollett blasts police for focusing on winning the case instead of trying to solve it based on truth, and hints there may be a conspiracy against him because of that. As he puts it -- law enforcement is willing to throw people under the bus, get people to lie, and switch the narrative based on their agenda.

As for the lack of video evidence of Jussie being attacked ... he claims it's out there. He also says there are 2 witnesses who can corroborate his story of seeing 2 white men -- one of them carrying a rope -- before he was attacked.

Smollett says this evidence has been buried by a bunch of lies and misleading information, but there's more. Jussie claims there's a tape that shows the action leading up to his alleged assault, but it cuts off right before it happens.

He doesn't say outright who may have doctored the tape, but strongly implies the Chicago PD may have had a hand in it.

To sum it all up ... Smollett says he now realizes he was set up from the beginning to look like he was lying, and he thinks it has something to do with "the MAGA of it all."

It seems Jussie believes if his alleged attackers hadn't yelled something suggesting they were Trump supporters, things would be different ... but he concedes he doesn't know that for sure.

What he does know for sure is he's done trying to convince people ... and the truth will eventually come out.

We broke the story ... on Wednesday, the City of Chicago requested the FBI hand over its records about the Bureau's probe into the "hate crime" and what may have led up to it.

So Jussie's right ... this case isn't going away anytime soon.

"Star Trek: Discovery" actor Anthony Rapp is suing Kevin Spacey for an alleged sexual assault ... and now there's another plaintiff making an additional claim.

Rapp filed suit in NYC claiming he met the disgraced actor in 1986 while performing on Broadway in "Precious Sons." Rapp claims Spacey invited him, 14 at the time, to a party at his home on the East Side of Manhattan. Rapp alleges Spacey, without consent, made an unwanted sexual advance and grabbed his buttocks, lifted him onto a bed and laid on his body.

According to the docs, obtained by TMZ, Rapp claims he got scared and ran into the bathroom, and although Spacey tried to persuade him to stay ... he left. Rapp says he suffered psychological injuries, severe emotional distress, humiliation, fright, anger, depression and anxiety.

What's more ... Rapp claims the experience has forced him to step away from his work as an actor and feels he'll be compelled to spend tons of money for medical expenses to recover from the ordeal.

As we reported ... Rapp first made these accusations back in October 2017. Spacey responded by apologizing and coming out as gay.

BTW ... there's another plaintiff in Rapp's lawsuit but he's anonymous. He says he was also 14 and an acting student and alleges he had intercourse and oral sex with Spacey. In the suit, he claims he resisted Spacey's repeated attempts to sodomize him before he was able to flee Spacey's apartment.

TMZ Sports has obtained the 911 call from the DeAndre Baker alleged armed robbery ...  and the caller is VERY clear the NFL player is the culprit.

"I just got robbed by an NFL player," the caller tells the operator during the May 13 call.

The caller says he was hanging out at a get-together with 23-year-old Baker and other people when a confrontation broke out ... and things escalated quickly.

"I was standing at the back restroom and Dre Baker came around with a gun and him and his friend robbed me," the caller tells the 911 operator.

"[Baker] told his friend to shoot me. And they took my bag and my money and my watch."

The caller says Baker and his associates left the scene in a black G-Wagon and a Lamborghini.

When the operator asks for a description of the suspect, the caller says, "I know exactly who it is … Dre Baker. He plays for the NY Giants."

As we previously reported, Baker has been formally charged with 4 counts of robbery with a firearm ... and faces up to life in prison if convicted.

He was cut by the NY Giants earlier this week.

Baker, through his attorney, has repeatedly denied the allegations and vows to fight the charges.

Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren just shockingly announced the city's entire police department's command staff -- including the Chief -- are retiring on the heels of Daniel Prude's death in custody.

Warren made the announcement Tuesday during a virtual city council meeting ... adding there may be a number of others that will decide to leave as well. The Mayor -- who did NOT ask for chief La'Ron Singletary's resignation following Daniel Prude's death -- said she doesn't know who will take over the embattled department on the interim basis ... considering since this all happened just moments ago.

What's more ... Warren said Singletary felt his career and integrity had been challenged after a graphic video of the March 23 arrest surfaced showing the 41-year-old Black man having a hood placed over his head by police. They are then seen pressing his face into the ground for 2 minutes until Prude stops breathing ... leading to his death days later.

Remember ... Warren admonished Singletary last week for failing to fully and accurately inform her about what transpired during the arrest. For his part, Singletary said "As a man of integrity, I will not sit idly by while outside entities attempt to destroy my character. The events over the past week are an attempt to destroy my character and integrity."

He added, "The members of the Rochester Police Department and the Greater Rochester Community know my reputation and know what I stand for."

Deputy Chief Joseph Morabito, a 34-year veteran at the department, also retired and said, "It has been my extreme honor to serve with and lead the most dedicated law enforcement professionals in the country. It has also been my honor to serve this community through these many years; a community I was born and raised in, and deeply love."

We reached out to the Rochester PD and are told the only officials retiring are Singletary and Morabito ... but as Warren said, more announcements could be coming soon.

"I DID NOT MURDER THAT MAN!!!"

That's pro wrestling legend Marty Jannetty outright denying he murdered a man when the was 13-years-old ... insisting he made up the tale as part of a "damn wrestling storyline."

Remember, 60-year-old Jannetty -- one half of the WWF tag team, The Rockers -- had initially claimed he used a brick to fend off an attempted rapist behind a bowling alley 47 years ago ... killing the man in the process.

Jannetty even went on the Boston Wrestling Sports Show and suggested he dumped the body in the Chattahoochee River sometime around 1973.

In fact, the Columbus Police Dept. in Georgia even opened a probe into the apparent killing.

But now, Jannetty says the whole story was just a goof -- a made-up plot for pro wrestling -- and he spelled it out Tuesday in a new Facebook post.

"It was just the beginning of a damn wrestling storyline ... but OH MY GOD, OMG. Didn't the WORLD buy it??!!"

"It got so hot I had to drop it ... when my Columbus, Ga. Police Department got involved, I knew I had to drop it."

Jannetty says once cops got involved, he was "red-flagged"
by TSA -- and was recently pulled out of line at an airport in Atlanta while traveling to Boston.

"I wanted to call the good people at the Columbus Police Department and tell them, 'nah nah, don't waste tax payers money nor your valuable time..it was just a wrestling storyline.'"

Jannetty says looking back, he should have looped in the police about the murder story line before going public ... "but that ain't how I do it."

As for the story line ... Jannetty says it was all supposed to culminate in a wresting match with a former corrections officer -- "If he wins, he takes me in, in peace. If I win, he leave me alone, in peace ... but sadly now, we'll not get to do that storyline."

Joe Exotic has submitted a 257-page case to Donald Trump -- arguing various reasons why he should be pardoned from his 22-year murder-for-hire sentence -- claiming he was sexually assaulted behind bars.

Joe included a letter he sent to Donald Trump Jr. in his documents, in which he claims, "I have been sexually assaulted by jail staff, beat up and tied in a chair to the point the skin came off my arms." He goes on to say, "please be my hero ... my hands are damaged from the abuse in jail so I'm sorry for the soppy (sic) writing and spelling" and adding this ... "#TrumpJr.2024." We reached out to the prison for comment ... so far, no word back.

Joe says he fears he'll die in prison before his scheduled 2037 release, because his health is compromised because of various medical issues, including anemia and common variable immune deficiency.

Joe submitted various character references, including one from Kerri Walker, whose cousin worked at the zoo. She makes an appeal to Trump, saying Joe got a raw deal, just like Trump did with the "grab-'em-by-the-p***y" tape.

Joe goes on to say he never tried to kill Carole Baskin, and that all the so-called threats he made against her were just "hyperbole." His lawyers say in the docs, obtained by TMZ, the "threats" were "simply another aspect of his showmanship ... Joe's jokes, at most, in bad taste, were merely jokes."

Joe also insists he's been "railroaded and betrayed, repeatedly" ... blaming Jeff Lowe, the judge and others. He says the $3k he forked over to the alleged hitman was not to pay for a hit ... it was to get the guy out of his hair.

Joe also believes one of the reasons he was convicted was because of anti-gay sentiments.

He admits to shooting some tigers that were ill, saying that was the humane way of euthanizing them.

And Joe's husband, Dillon Passage, wrote a letter saying Joe saved him from addiction. Passage wrote ... "I see a sweet, big heart man, with good intentions, who took a few steps down a dark road, and he's just waiting to be pulled out of it."

Joe makes his plea to President Trump, saying, "Allow me to make you proud, to make America proud, to make the world proud. Be my hero please."

TMZ broke the story ... Joe's team is flying to D.C. Wednesday where Eric Love, who's leading the charge for Joe, will present the pardon application to someone he knows in The White House.

A woman who briefly escaped the custody of two undercover officers in San Diego had a seizure as they chased her down ... a wild scene that played out on camera.

It happened Saturday during protests near the San Diego County Jail. At one point, you see an unmarked, civilian-style car posted outside a gate to get inside ... when all of a sudden, a lady springs out from the back seat in shackles and makes a run for it.

She screams for help as she tries to escape, and people around her are clearly confused before they put it all together. Two men in plain clothes -- who are presumably law enforcement agents -- run after her and eventually catch up just a few yards away.

As they begin to apprehend her, a crowd forms around all of them with most everyone's camera whipped out and recording. Some people try yanking the men off of her, and at one point ... she's literally being pulled by the leg and hair in mid-air. It's horrifying to watch.

It gets worse though ... the woman goes into a full-blown seizure during all the chaos, and the two guys eventually give up and start walking back to their car. Everyone's asking them to identify themselves, but they refuse ... and simply leave the scene, hand on gun too.

New York's top prosecutor is taking the Daniel Prude case out of the local jurisdiction's hands and putting the decision of whether to bring charges squarely with the people.

Attorney General Letitia James says she'll be convening a grand jury soon to review the case and see if any crime had been committed by the Rochester police officers ... who put a spit sack over Prude's head earlier this year, which ultimately lead to his death.

As we reported ... Prude's brother called 911 for help after Daniel was acting erratically. He was intercepted in the snowy streets, completely naked. While complying with officers' demands at first, Prude eventually tried standing up ... and was pinned to the ground.

With a knee to his back and a hood over his head, Prude eventually lost consciousness. He was placed on life support and died 7 days later. His death was ruled a homicide by complications of asphyxia while being restrained, plus other contributing factors.

Empaneling a grand jury essentially takes the power to charge anyone out of a prosecutor's purview and puts it with grand jurors, who'll take a look and be presented an argument one way or another by the lead investigative office -- in this case, the New York Attorney General.

Safe to say, if the AG is making this move ... it's because she wants impartial people to judge what happened and then determine if charges should be filed. So far, seven of the cops have been suspended with pay, but no charges have been filed.

Rochester's mayor, Lovely Warren, decried Prude's death this past week ... claiming ignorance over the true nature of his detainment. Not everyone is satisfied with that explanation, especially since Prude died 6 months ago.

Jacob Blake appeared publicly for the first time after being shot in the back 7 times and paralyzed ... he entered a plea in his criminal case from his hospital bed.

Jacob made a court appearance via video Friday, on charges unrelated to the incident in Kenosha. He was sitting in his hospital bed, wearing a blue dress shirt with a yellow tie.

Blake's accused of criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and 3rd-degree sexual assault. The charges were filed before he was shot by police, and they are unrelated to the shooting which left him unable to walk.

Jacob briefly spoke to the judge when asked if he understood the charges against him ... he pled not guilty to all 3 charges.

As you know ... Jacob was shot 7 times in the back by a cop as he tried entering his vehicle.

It's become the tactic of choice for domestic terrorists ... using a car as a weapon to attack protesters.

A Ford Taurus careened through a Black Lives Matter protest Thursday night, as at least 350 people peacefully assembled in Times Square, protesting the death of Daniel Prude at the hands of Rochester police.

The driver gunned it as dozens of protesters ran for cover. Miraculously, no one was injured, but cops are still on the hunt for the driver.

Prude died days after cops put a spit hood over his head, cutting off oxygen. Before officers used the spit hood, you hear Prude plead with cops to let him go. He eventually lost consciousness after cops held him face down for 2 minutes. Only when officers noticed fluid coming out of his mouth did they show concern.

Prude's death was ruled a homicide, and 7 officers have been suspended after the body cam was released. So far, no arrests have been made or charges filed.

It's cloudy with a chance of cannabis in Tel Aviv ... a drone dropped bags of weed over a city square, sending folks running into the streets for the gratis greens.

Dank started dropping from the skies over Rabin Square Thursday, a ganja gift from local activists seeking to legalize it.

As you can see in the video, the free baggies of bud started fluttering down from a high-flying drone, and people scrambled to scoop up the strains in the middle of traffic.

Pro-legalization group Green Drone hinted at the operation beforehand in a message on Telegram, saying ... "The time has come. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the Green Drone sending you free cannabis from the skies."

The fun police, AKA actual police, put a stop to it all, though -- cops say they arrested 2 men who allegedly operated the drone. Police claimed the bags were packed with "a dangerous drug." Hey, not everyone's come around on marijuana.

Medical cannabis is legal in Israel, while recreational use is illegal, but mostly decriminalized.

Dr. Terry Dubrow says a truly brilliant doctor isn't always a good thing, because some of them use that genius for evil ... something he's learned in his new TV side gig.

The "Botched" star also hosts "License to Kill," and joined us on "TMZ Live" to issue a sober warning about how some physicians are able to pull off the perfect crime ... going completely undetected.

In fact, the famed plastic surgeon told us about an oncologist who put patients' lives at risk -- all so he could make major bank and live in the lap of luxury. Watch the video, it's a devious plot, to say the least.

Terry says the second season of "License to Kill" is gonna uncover plenty of horrifying cases like that. For instance, this Saturday's premiere on Oxygen follows a NY-based plastic surgeon who falsified his credentials and harmed patients in what should have been routine cosmetic surgeries.

L.A. County Sheriff's deputies gunned down a Black man in South L.A. this week -- which can now be seen in full view through new surveillance video that was just released.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump posted footage obtained by a security camera at a nearby home, not far from where 29-year-old Dijon Kizzee was shot multiple times and killed on the spot Monday afternoon. His death has come under scrutiny and sparked protests.

LASD says officers were attempting to stop Kizzee after they found he was "in violation of vehicle codes" while riding his bike. They say they pursued him when he fled ... and things escalated into a physical confrontation between Kizzee and at least one deputy, which you can see here.

The Sheriff's Dept. goes on to say that during the struggle, some items Kizzee was carrying fell on the ground ... one of which they claim was a handgun. LASD claims at that point, Kizzee broke free and tried fleeing once again, but officers fired multiple rounds and took him down.

Crump and others contend that even if a gun was in Kizzee's possession during the altercation, he didn't point it at them and was not a threat by the time he ran a second time. They're demanding Sheriff Alex Villanueva release the names of the deputies who fired the shots ... while also asking for their arrest and eventual prosecution. The case is under investigation.

The L.A. driver, who appeared to be utterly wasted after smashing into 3 parked cars and walked into the sunset with cops watching, has gotten the break of the century ... because he can't be prosecuted.

Law enforcement sources tell us ... there's no way legally charges could stick, because LAPD officers never gave the guy a field sobriety test. The reality ... even though you see him on video clearly not in control of himself as he repeatedly stumbles and falls, it's not enough to file charges.

The guy's lawyer could easily argue there were other reasons the guy seemed out of it. He could argue it was some unexplained medical condition or something else. Fact is ... prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt he was driving under the influence, and there's no way they can do that without a field sobriety test or a blood test back at the station.

The LAPD is conducting an internal investigation to determine why cops utterly ignored the obvious at the scene.

A Ukrainian woman was waiting in the wings for her chance to shine after a family vacation, and took it in a bizarre way when their plane touched down.

Check out this passenger aboard a Ukraine International Airlines flight that had just returned from Turkey this week -- she just had to get off the plane one way or another, and opened an emergency exit to do just that ... John McClane style.

In the video, the woman literally pops out of the exit and starts taking a little stroll along the plane's wing, not looking to jump or anything ... but to simply stretch her legs and get some fresh air.

That's what she told airport authorities anyway when they questioned her about this ... that she was hot and wanted to cool down. Doesn't seem like the folks at UIA bought it though, because apparently her own kids were reportedly already deplaned when she did this.

So, in other words ... it may very well have been a stunt for kicks. In any case, the woman is banned from flying with them ever again -- the captain also apparently called in the cavalry to deal with her ... airport security, border patrol and airline cops, the works basically.

Ben and his associates just fleshed out their thoughts even further in a scathing rebuke of local Louisville law enforcement officials who appear to have tried getting her ex-BF, Jamarcus Glover, to falsely pin her as part of a crime syndicate ... this AFTER she'd died.

Ben and co. write, "This is why the Black community has no trust in America’s justice system. It’s enormously ironic that the accused drug dealer here acted with honor, refusing to falsely discredit Bre after her death -- even when offered the temptation of no prison time for lying, while prosecutors and police acted in the most egregiously dishonest and dishonorable way possible."

Ben goes on to say the police have already killed Breonna once, and now they're trying to do it again by killing her reputation and her good name. He adds, "Disgusting behavior by those who are supposed to be the protectors of justice."

The family of Breonna Taylor is rattled by the news of the shocking plea deal offered to her ex-boyfriend, according to their attorney, who adds ... they're losing even more confidence in Kentucky authorities.

Ben Crump came on "TMZ Live" Tuesday to discuss the bombshell news about local prosecutors in Louisville seemingly trying to smear Breonna with a false claim she was a criminal. That came out in a plea deal offered to her ex-BF, who was arrested on drug charges.

Crump says he's not buying prosecutors' claim the plea deal was merely a draft whipped up early on in negotiations. He tells us it's yet just another piece of evidence that local authorities were trying to sweep Breonna's killing under the rug from the very beginning.

Crump says the plea deal proves they were out to dirty up Breonna's character and says that's shaken her family's trust Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron will get them justice in the case.

He tells us bluntly -- Breonna's family is losing faith in the process, and not only because Cameron still has not announced charges against the officer involved in Breonna's killing.

Crump tells us there's no reason a clear answer shouldn't be reached in the next couple weeks, and insists the family only wants one thing -- equal treatment under the law. Plain and simple.