What context? That he was lying about the whole thing?

It is interesting how frequently the Smollett case comes up, and coincidentally Trump just tweeted about it, from Japan, yet again (claiming that it's a "hate crime" against MAGA wearers, which is uproariously stupid and offensive). All of those mass killer MAGA citers, and countless and growing numbers of hate crimes against minorities, tossed aside because look, this somehow proves all of that untrue. You see the same thing by the incel crowd when a false rape account is found, then it's heralded from the mountaintops as if it invalidates the reality of rapes.

You're missing my point (and maybe Smollett's a bad example as we didn't learn the truth for a few weeks; I see the same mob mentality in similar stories). I'm saying they shouldn't jump on the mob mentality without identifying the context of the situation (for example, the case in the article, where we learn the patrons had a history of stealing meals). When someone is joining the mob without stopping to investigate, and it's someone I know to brilliant otherwise, it's very disheartening. Moreover, the emotional knee-jerking that happens has very real consequences, and when it turns out the indignation was misplaced, I see too much dismissing of the harm done as merely unfortunate collateral damage.

In other words, learn to think for yourself, and chill out on Twitter, at least until you have more information than a 30-seconds news bite. The initial response is usually not much different than what I saw in the Smollett case, so that should be an example that causes everyone to wait before grabbing the pitchforks in the future.