It's unsettling to witness the vitriol directed at Chicago prosecutors who dropped charges on Tuesday against actor Jussie Smollett—who has already been tried and convicted in the court of public opinion of staging his own hate crime attack.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel called the decision by veteran prosecutor Joseph Magats to dismiss the case “without a doubt a whitewash of justice.” The city's police superintendent Eddie Johnson was “furious” according to the Chicago-Sun Times. The police commander who oversaw the investigation called it “a kick in the gut.”

The Fraternal Order of Police demanded a federal investigation into Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx for “interference”—though Foxx recused herself in February, before Smollett was charged with 16 counts of disorderly conduct for making a false police report.

The denizens of Twitter seemed equally outraged. A common theme was that Smollett received special treatment—a notion reinforced by Emanuel, who said dropping the case “sends a clear message that if you're in a position of influence and power, you'll get treated one way, other people will be treated another way.”

It's a disingenuous remark. It may well be true, but perhaps not in the way Emanuel meant.

Because if you stop being angry long enough to listen to what Magats has to say, it seems that if anything, he was trying to treat Smollett like any other defendant.

For those of you with no access to supermarket tabloids or social media, Smollett—best known for his role on the television show “Empire”—claimed he was attacked in the early hours of the morning on January 29 by two men in Chicago.

The actor said they made racial and homophobic slurs—Smollett openly identifies as gay—yelling that he was “in MAGA country.” He said the men hit him, poured bleach on him, and put a rope around his neck.

The initial response? An outpouring of sympathy and a boost for his career at a time when he reportedly felt he was being under-paid by “Empire.”

But parts of the story didn't quite add up. Like what were two men doing out at 2 a.m. on a frigid winter night with bleach and noose, waiting for a gay black man to come along for them to beat up? Why didn't any surveillance cameras capture the attack? Why wouldn't Smollett let police see his phone?

And who were the two brothers from Nigeria who worked as extras on “Empire” and sometimes went to the gym with Smollett? Why did he pay them $3,500? Was it really for a “nutrition/ workout program”? Or did Smollett pay them to fake the attack?

The two brothers, Abimbola 'Abel' and Olabinjo 'Ola' Osundairo, through their lawyer Gloria Schmidt subsequently said they have “tremendous regret over their involvement in this situation.”

On February 21, Smollett was arrested. Police chief Johnson said the attack was phony and “dragged Chicago's reputation through the mud in the process. … The stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary.”

If true, it's obviously troubling on several levels. It undermines the credibility of legitimate hate crime victims. And when coupled with the incident involving the MAGA-hat wearing teen, it reinforces a sense among Trump supporters that they're being unfairly demonized. As President Trump tweeted, “@JussieSmollett – what about MAGA and the tens of millions of people you insulted with your racist and dangerous comments!?”

It's easy to understand the urge to throw the book at Smollett.

But here's the thing. Chicago had 561 murders last year (compared to 283 in New York). There were also 2,355 “shooting incidents,” more than 2,000 reported sexual assaults and 9,450 robberies

Granted, the Cook County State's Attorney's Office has more than 700 lawyers—but still, that's a lot of crimes to prosecute. And the office is clear about its top priority: Violent crimes.

Which this is not.

In a statement, the office said, “After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett's volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case.”

Magats, who has been a Cook County prosecutor for more than 25 years, stressed that Smollett was charged with a nonviolent offense and has no felony criminal background.

“Do you believe he is innocent?” a CBS Chicago reporter asked. “I do not believe he is innocent,” Magats answered.

“So why drop the charges?”

“Based on all the facts and circumstances, based on his lack of criminal background,” Magats said. “We defer or do alternative prosecutions—in the last two years, we've done it on 5,700 other felony cases.”

Jussie Smollett might be despicable, but he's not likely to commit violence against residents of Chicago. And so … just like other non-violent defendants, the office decided he wasn't worth prosecuting, not when there are murderers to be tried.

In its own way, it's laudable. But it also seems hopelessly naïve. Because politically, this was a case that demanded a head on a platter.

Magats took over the case after Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx recused herself. The Sun-Times reported that she stepped aside after she failed to convince the police chief to turn the investigation over to the FBI—a request allegedly prompted by Buckley Sandler partner Tina Tchen, who was chief of staff for former first lady Michelle Obama and was reportedly acting at the behest of the Smollett family.

Indeed, Smollett's lawyers deserve the highest marks for pulling this off.

“There is no deferred prosecution. The motion was to nolle pros … The state dismissed the charges,” Patricia Brown Holmes, managing partner of Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila's Chicago office, said at a press conference. “We have nothing to say to the police department except to investigate charges and not try their cases in the press.

Riley Safer, you might recall, was founded in early 2016 by 22 partners who exited Schiff Hardin, and has continued to grow rapidly. As Holmes' law firm bio points out, she is “The first African-American woman to lead and have her name on the door of a major law firm that is not women- or minority-owned.”

Before she joined Schiff Hardin in 2005, Holmes was the youngest African-American woman to serve as an associate judge for the Circuit Court of Cook County in Chicago. 

Holmes did not respond to a request for comment, but in an interview with my colleague Meghan Tribe last year, she said focusing on diversity and inclusion “will always be at the forefront because our clients require it … [W]e know and believe very strongly that diverse teams get better results.”

Smollett is also represented by Mark Geragos—who found himself in the news on Monday as the unnamed “co-conspirator 1” in Michael Avenatti's alleged scheme to extort a settlement from Nike.

But he was absent yesterday. Instead, Geragos & Geragos New York office head Tina Glandian appeared at Smollett's side along with Holmes at his post-court appearance press conference.

“I have been truthful and consistent on every single level since day one,” Smollett said. “I want to thank my legal counsel from the bottom of my heart. And I would also like to thank the state of Illinois for attempting to do what's right.”