Update: Earlier this evening, ABC 7 Chicago reported that police were looking into a theory that Jussie Smollett had staged the attack along with the two men of interest. Anthony Guglielmi of the Chicago Police Department has responded to that report from ABC 7 Chicago by tweeting, “Media reports about the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate.”
A new break has been made in Jussie Smollett‘s assault case. Empire‘s Smollett was admitted to a local hospital in Chicago after he was beaten badly on January 29th. Initial reports suggest that the Empire star actor was attacked outside in downtown Chicago. The suspected perpetrators threw bleach on him and placed a rope around his neck. Since then, law enforcement has identified two people of interest in connection to the attack. Today, we learned that local law enforcement has made major headway in identifying these two people.
.@WGNInvestigates has learned new details about the two men police are questioning about Jussie Smollett’s claim he was the victim of a racial & homophobic attack:
1) Both men are African-American
2) At least 1 of them is connected to the “Empire” showLatest on @WGNNews at 4p pic.twitter.com/Xw7aBHjh5M
— Ben Bradley (@BenBradleyTV) February 14, 2019
According to a report from Ben Bradley of WGN News, Chicago Police Officers have begun questioning two men in connection to the attack. Thus far, Bradley has reported that one of the men is connected to Fox’s hit show, Empire.
BREAKING:Police raided the home of two persons of interest in Jussie Smollett case last night. Both men are of Nigerian decent and have appeared as extras on the show. Police took bleach, shoes electronics and more.Officers asked family if they knew #Jussiesmollett. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/PDSFtf5jwb
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) February 14, 2019
Not long after Bradley’s report, Charlie De Mar of CBS Chicago reported that not one, but both men had appeared on Empire as extras. De Mar also added that law enforcement had searched a home in connection to the two people of interest and found bleach, shoes, electronics and more.
Initial reports from Rob Elgas of ABC Chicago indicated that the police department was looking into the possibility that the incident was staged by Smollett along with the two men because Smollet’s character on Empire was being written off the show.
