Nobody really knows whether or not the Jussie Smollett case is typical of similar uncorroborated claims of a "hate crime".
But those who advocate against "hate crimes" are quick to use reports of purported incidents to support their narrative, even if the credibility of the reports is dubious.
For example, Anti Defamation League data shows a big spike in anti-Semitic incidents in early 2017, and this spike is often used to attack Trump for creating an atmosphere of divisiveness (he was also called an anti-Semite himself until people realized that he has Jewish grandchildren, and until he stepped forward to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem).
But about that spike, consider this (quotes from the Chicago Tribune, 28 Feb 2018):
"A teenager with dual U.S. and Israeli citizenship has been indicted on hate crimes and making false threats in what federal prosecutors assert was a multistate torrent of hundreds of calls last winter to Jewish community centers and institutions, including the Israeli Embassy.
Michael Ron David Kadar, - who is 19 and lived in Ashkelon, Israel, at the time of the alleged threats - was charged in a criminal complaint in April of making false bomb threats to Jewish sites in Florida from January to March 7, 2017, giving false information to police about harm to people in Georgia, and cyberstalking."
The ADL has refused to remove data related to Kadar from its database:
" "Make no mistake, these threats were acts of anti-Semitism and deserve to be treated as a hate crime," Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the ADL, said in a statement. "They targeted Jewish institutions in order to stoke fear and anxiety, and put the entire Jewish community on high alert." "