美国国家公共电台 NPR Police Say 'Empire' Actor Jussie Smollett Attacked In Possible Hate Crime

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

In Chicago, the actor Jussie Smollett was assaulted² in the early hours of this morning. Chicago police have confirmed that they are treating the attack as a possible hate crime. Smollett is gay and multiracial. He stars in the hit Fox TV drama "Empire." It's about a family that owns a music company, and Smollett plays Jamal, a gay character struggling to win his father's approval. Here he is singing on the show.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "EMPIRE")

JUSSIE SMOLLETT: (As Jamal Lyon, singing) So what? I'm gay. It don't matter. God ain't made you no better than me. When I pray...

SHAPIRO: For more on this attack, NPR's Colin Dwyer joins us now. Hi, Colin.

COLIN DWYER, BYLINE³: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: What can you tell us so far about this assault¹? And what do we know happened?

DWYER: So to start off, I must preface this with the fact that details remain a little bit sketchy⁴ at the moment, but we do know some facts from the Chicago Police Department. They say that he was walking down by the waterfront section of downtown Chicago when two individuals assailed⁵ him. They started hurling⁶ racial epithets⁷ at him, started hurling homophobic slurs⁸ at him as well. And they gained his attention through that, and they started beating him up.

And at this point, there are some actually disturbing details in the police report. They say that he had an unknown chemical substance poured on him during the course of this thing. And then before that attack was done, the two individuals apparently⁹ wrapped a rope around his neck, according to police. Those individuals actually fled on foot. And now the police are trying to find out who they are.

SHAPIRO: You mentioned homophobic and racial slurs. Police are investigating this as a hate crime. Tell us more about that.

DWYER: That's correct. So they obviously see this as a potential situation in which this was either racially motivated or motivated through homophobia or perhaps both it seems. So police are now calling out to the country as a whole asking for tips on who these two people might be. One bright side to this is that it does seem that Smollett is feeling OK. He's in good condition, according to the police. He actually brought himself over to the hospital shortly after this. And he seems to be in good condition.

SHAPIRO: He brought himself to the hospital. He was not taken there by ambulance or anything.

DWYER: That's correct.

SHAPIRO: He's a very popular figure in Hollywood. I've seen a huge response on social media today. Tell us more about what the reaction has been.

DWYER: That's right. So almost immediately the moment that this news broke, we saw an outpouring from his colleagues and co-workers and friends across the industry. That includes Kerry Washington, Viola Davis. The co-creator of the show, Danny Strong, actually came out with some really strong words. He said whoever did this, do not forget that you are nothing but hate-filled cowards¹⁰ while Jussie's talent and activism will continue to shine a bright light onto the world for decades to come.

SHAPIRO: That's NPR's Colin Dwyer covering this assault on the actor Jussie Smollett in Chicago. We're going to continue following this story as we get more details. Colin, thanks a lot.

DWYER: Thank you so much, Ari.

(SOUNDBITE OF ROSTAM SONG, "GWAN")

1 assault   

v.猛烈地攻击，袭击；n.突然而猛烈的攻击

参考例句：

• She appeared in court on charges of kidnapping and assault.她因受到拐骗和侵犯人身的指控而出庭。
• The trainees were put through an assault course.受训人员接受了突击训练课程。

2 assaulted   

v.袭击( assault的过去式和过去分词 )；强暴；猛烈攻击；使（感官）难受

参考例句：

• We assaulted the city on all sides. 我们从四面八方向该城发起攻击。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy assaulted us at dawn. 敌人在黎明时向我进攻。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

5 assailed   

v.攻击( assail的过去式和过去分词 )；困扰；质问；毅然应对

参考例句：

• He was assailed with fierce blows to the head. 他的头遭到猛烈殴打。
• He has been assailed by bad breaks all these years. 这些年来他接二连三地倒霉。 来自《用法词典》

6 hurling   

n.爱尔兰式曲棍球v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的现在分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• The boat rocked wildly, hurling him into the water. 这艘船剧烈地晃动，把他甩到水中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Fancy hurling away a good chance like that, the silly girl! 想想她竟然把这样一个好机会白白丢掉了，真是个傻姑娘！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 epithets   

n.（表示性质、特征等的）词语( epithet的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He insulted me, using rude epithets. 他用粗话诅咒我。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He cursed me, using a lot of rude epithets. 他用上许多粗鲁的修饰词来诅咒我。 来自辞典例句

8 slurs   

含糊的发音( slur的名词复数 )； 玷污； 连奏线； 连唱线

参考例句：

• One should keep one's reputation free from all slurs. 人应该保持名誉不受责备。
• Racial slurs, racial jokes, all having to do with being Asian. 种族主义辱骂，种族笑话，都是跟亚裔有关的。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 cowards   

胆小鬼，懦夫( coward的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cowards are not made of the same metal as heroes. 懦夫与英雄本质不同。
• All the others, even those who resembled ourselves, were cowards and hypocrites. 所有其他寡头政治家，即使那些同我们相象的人，也都是些懦夫和伪君子。 来自英汉文学