Friday on CNN’s “New Day,” network commentator Van Jones reacted to the case involving Jussie Smollett where the “Empire” actor is alleged to have staged a fake hate crime against himself.

Jones said the “worst part” of the case is that hate crimes are on the rise in the country and that “truth” has “been completely obliterated” by Smollett’s hoax.

“I think it’s important to point out that some of this stuff was believed,” Jones stated. “A lot of people thought it was sketchy, but some of this stuff was believed. The Chicago Police Department did itself well yesterday. It has not done well in the past, even recently — reports of a lot of abuse and corruption. The Chicago Police Department, you could understand why people thought, ‘Well, I don’t trust them.’ And then also, the reality is there has been a rise in hate crimes, there has been a rise of intolerance. I think the worst part about the whole thing was the truth that the Chicago Police Department does have improvements to make and the truth that hate crimes are on the rise has now been completely obliterated by the potential that this is a hoax.”

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