Actor's false hate crime report leaves Sioux Falls LGBTQ community "saddened"

Actor Jussie Smollett is out on bond tonight, after making a false report to police.

For weeks the 'Empire' star claimed he was beaten by two masked men who shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him, and put a noose around his neck. Now prosecutors say he set the whole thing up. Thursday, he turned himself in to Chicago police.

The "Empire" actor is now facing time in prison for his made up hoax, but some people in Sioux Falls aren't too happy with Smollett dragging down the LGBT community.

"We strive to go forward and not backwards," President of Sioux Falls Pride, Quinn Kathner said.

Like many around the world Quinn Kathner's first reaction was to believe actor Jussie Smollett's story.

"Initially when the story first broke it was you know our heart went out for the victim. When the story dialogue changed and it surfaced what had happened the truth came out it was a sad moment for the community," Kathner said.

In a sit down interview with Good Morning America Smollett had this to say...

"I just want young people young members of the LGBTQ community young black children to know how strong that they are," Jussie Smollett said.

Now local activists are worried that the real victims of hate crimes won't be taken seriously.

"Here in Sioux Falls I’d like to think it doesn't happen as much, but it does. I personally know victims of hate crimes where they're walking down Phillips Avenue and somebody yells a slur at them," Kathner added.

"We just don't have any room for hatred in this city," Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, said.

And same here in Sioux Falls. I spoke with Sioux Falls Officer Sam Clemens and he tells KSFY News detectives take their time getting information but they also keep up with other cases.

"I mean I really think that's what it is, a big juggling act, we're small enough that we don't have crime like they do in Chicago, but our detectives still have a pretty big workload," Sioux Falls Police Officer, Sam Clemens said.

And with such a high profile case like this false leads and information were in the media everywhere.

"This day and age the way people are using social media now and the way information spreads so quickly that's really the one big hurdle that law enforcement has," Clemens said.

Law enforcement digs into every last one of those leads in hopes it'll point them in the right direction and sometimes it's time wasted. So what happens if you make a false report in South Dakota?

"So if somebody makes a report with the police and really it doesn't matter what type of crime they alleged happened if it turns out that they are making false statements or making a false report in South Dakota making a false report to police is a class one misdemeanor," Clemens said.

Quinn said at the end of the day she's happy that none of this actually happened and we can now use this as a talking point to hold people accountable.

Smollett's next court appearance is set for March 14th.