Despite evidence, Jussie Smollett's lawyer claims the actor is victim of 'media gangbang'

Hours after it was announced a grand jury indicted actor Jussie Smollett on 16 felony charges for filing two false police reports related to his alleged hate crime hoax, the actor's defense attorney, Mark Geragos, claimed his client is the victim of a "media gangbang."

Geragos, speaking with CNN's Anderson Cooper, emphasized the unprecedented nature of Friday's announcement, condemning the fact that Smollett has been found guilty in the court of public opinion.

"What is happening here is, frankly, a media gangbang of this guy of unprecedented proportions," Geragos claimed. "That's the reason I got into this. I've never seen a media pendulum swing more quickly and more viciously and rob somebody of their presumption of innocence like this case has. It's startling the way people assume he's guilty."

Geragos also took issue with the indictment itself, which included one charge of disorderly conduct for each of Smollett's eight alleged lies to two separate police officers.

"I defy anybody to find any indictment anywhere where somebody has brought 16 counts for being a victim of a hate crime," Geragos said.

For his part, Cooper did not buy much of what Geragos was selling, noting how "weird" Smollett's story is — if true at all.

In a separate statement after Cook County announced the indictment, Geragos called the charges "overkill."

"This redundant and vindictive indictment is nothing more than a desperate attempt to make headlines in order to distract from the internal investigation launched to investigate the outrageous leaking of false information by the Chicago Police Department and the shameless and illegal invasion of Jussie's privacy in tampering with his medical records. Jussie adamantly maintains his innocence even if law enforcement has robbed him of that presumption," he said, according to TMZ.

(H/T: Daily Beast)