The sole Black juror in the trial against actor Jussie Smollett, who was convicted for lying about being a victim in a hate crime, stated he was having difficulties accepting what Smollett did following the incident. 

In a report from the Associated Press, Andre Hope expressed his confusion, stating he couldn’t get past what Smollett did not do after he claims attackers put a noose around his neck, which was to remove it and keep it off. 

“As an African American person, I’m not putting that noose back on at all,” Andre Hope told WLS-TV according the AP. 

During the trial, Smollett testified after the attack in downtown Chicago he returned home and put the rope back around his neck so police could see it. 

Former Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson, who was in charge during that time, also expressed a sense of confusion and concern over the action. Johnson, according to AP, spoke in an interview with News Nation Now that as a Black man, something like a noose is a potent symbol of racism. 

“I was concerned because I don’t think there’s many Black people in America with a noose around their neck and wouldn’t immediately take it off,” Johnson said, according to AP. 

During the trial, Hope tells AP the evidence against Smollett was overwhelming and his attorney’s argument, that the two brothers called in to assist with faking the attack were the masterminds behind it, made no sense. 

Prosecution asserted Smollett staged the attack because was angry with the studio filming “Empire” for not taking hate emails seriously. 

Smollett returns to court next year for sentencing and could face up to three years imprisonment. Experts have said that it is highly more likely he gets probation and community service.