Moments after the jury delivered actor Jussie Smollett's guilty verdict for a hate crime hoax, conservatives immediately began cracking jokes and reminiscing about liberals' reactions when the allegations first emerged.

A Chicago jury on Thursday found the onetime Empire actor guilty on five out of six counts of lying to police after prosecutors said he faked a racist and homophobic attack against himself in 2019. Smollett's defense attorney said he plans to appeal the conviction.

At the time, prominent political figures sympathized with Smollett's claims, while others were suspicious. Commentators pulled out old tweets from those who viewed the alleged attack as a reckoning on racism in the United States during the Trump administration.

JUSSIE SMOLLETT FOUND GUILTY OF LYING TO POLICE AND STAGING HATE CRIME

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro joked that the justice system protected minorities by convicting Smollett's "attacker," while satirical news website the Babylon Bee made a joke about the victim and attacker being the same person.

Author J.D. Vance said people should remember everyone who was fooled by the hoax, saying they are "not to be trusted."

Others retweeted prominent figures' initial reactions, including those from President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.


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On the other side of the aisle, commentators said conservatives shouldn't be too smug about the verdict because of problems they say stem from conservative policies and values.

An MSNBC post from The ReidOut Blog writer Ja'han Jones said those on the right shouldn't celebrate the verdict because of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

John Pavlovitz, a left-leaning Christian faith leader, said Smollett should be held accountable for crimes while also saying Republicans should face repercussions for election fraud claims and vaccine skepticism during the pandemic.