Chicago — American advocacy groups and police have a shared concern over the fallout from allegations that a TV actor faked a hate-motivated assault: that future victims will face more skepticism even as hate crimes are on the rise.

Chicago police have accused Jussie Smollett of engineering an elaborate hoax to exploit Americans' anxieties over political and racial divisions in order to generate publicity and a bigger paycheck.

The 36-year-old star of the Fox drama "Empire" allegedly sent himself a threatening letter and then hired two acquaintances to stage a street attack in downtown Chicago, complete with homophobic and racial slurs, while invoking Donald Trump's "Make American Great Again" slogan.

Smollett is charged with a felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report. He was freed Thursday on $100,000 bond.

"If true, then this is a disgraceful exploitation of many past victims of real hate crimes, many of whom have endured heinous suffering," Kami Chavis, a former assistant US attorney in the George W Bush administration, told AFP.

The actor's lawyers, in a defiant statement, criticized law enforcement's actions as an organized "spectacle" and maintained Smollett's innocence.

But whatever the final result, the case has left gay rights and racial justice advocates, along with politicians and government officials, worried about future victims. Will they be believed?

"Bogus police reports cause real harm," an angry Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson told a news conference Thursday, after detailing what his detectives learned over a three-week investigation.

"My concern is that hate crimes will now publically be met with a level of skepticism that previously didn't happen," Johnson said.

The initial news of the purported attack at the end of January generated an outpouring of support for Smollett, who in the past has lent his celebrity to gay rights, racial equality and other causes. — AFP