It appears that Jussie Smollett may have made the whole story up! Maybe he thought he needed some free publicity.
He told police that he was approached by two men who yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him, and at one point wrapped a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance -- now believed to be bleach -- on him. The Chicago Police Department told said at the time that Smollett was self-transported to Northwestern Hospital.
Smollett has previously said he was talking to his manager on his cellphone during the attack and still had that phone after the attack.
Chicago reporter Rafer Weigel of Fox32 News tweeted that police sources had confirmed that Smollett also still had the Subway sandwich on him when he turned up at an apartment building shortly after the alleged attack.
So Smollett underwent a vicious beating by two attackers that apparently lasted less than 60 seconds, since that is the reported gap in surveillance footage between an image of him without a rope around his neck and an image of him with the rope. Smollett now says he fought back, but apparently, he lost neither his Subway sandwich nor his cell phone in this brawl.
Also he didn’t immediately call the police on that phone to describe the suspects and inform the police which way they had gone when they suddenly ran away from him but instead waited about 40 minutes to inform the police.
Detectives are currently working to gather video, identify potential witnesses and establish an investigative timeline. The victim is fully cooperating with investigators and we ask anyone with information about this incident to contact Area Central Detectives at 312-747-8382 or report it anonymously to www.cpdtip.com."
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/more-st...lett-case/
Police Try to Track Down Video Footage of Incident
On Wednesday morning, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said the department was “utilizing resources to investigate [this case] thoroughly." According to authorities, detectives continue to look at city and privately owned surveillance footage that was recorded in the area where the attack happened.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness told ET that Smollett visited a Subway fast food restaurant alone early Tuesday morning before the attack, ordered a sub and a salad, and left around 2:15 a.m.
An employee at the Subway restaurant not far from where Smollett was attacked previously told ET that Chicago Police came to the fast food restaurant early Tuesday afternoon looking to review surveillance footage. The Subway location is about a four to five-minute walk from the Loews Hotel where Smollett was reportedly staying.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told ET that Smollett still had the rope around his neck when he made contact with officers at 2:42 a.m. on Tuesday. The spokesperson says that Smollett told detectives in a follow-up interview late Tuesday afternoon that his two attackers yelled, “MAGA country” to him during the attack.
Smollett's manager, Brandon Z. Moore, told police he was on the phone with Smollett during the attack. ET also learned that Moore said he told police he clearly heard the MAGA comment in addition to both racial and homophobic slurs. ET was also told that Smollett is cooperating with police and the ongoing investigation.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Police shared that they had a new development in their investigation.
The police department revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that detectives had located a surveillance camera which shows persons of interest; hours later, photos were released to the public.
Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member. While video does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed.
(The problem with these two men is that they don't appear carrying anything that could be a bleach container. The man on the right appears to be lighting a cigarette.) (Further, the bleach would have frozen in the below zero temperatures.)
Guglielmi said detectives, who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from businesses and hotels in the heavily monitored area. But he said they still need to collect and view more.
He said they are expanding the search to include footage from public buses and buildings beyond the scene's immediate vicinity in the hopes of spotting the men who match Smollett's description of the suspects.
"We haven't seen anybody, at this point, matching the description he gave. Nobody looks menacing, and we didn't find a container anywhere," Guglielmi said, referring to a container for the liquid that the actor said was thrown at him.
https://abc7ny.com/empire-actor-attacked-in-p...y/5111427/
https://twitter.com/AJGuglielmi/status/109034...57/photo/1
He told police that he was approached by two men who yelled racial and homophobic slurs at him, and at one point wrapped a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance -- now believed to be bleach -- on him. The Chicago Police Department told said at the time that Smollett was self-transported to Northwestern Hospital.
Smollett has previously said he was talking to his manager on his cellphone during the attack and still had that phone after the attack.
Chicago reporter Rafer Weigel of Fox32 News tweeted that police sources had confirmed that Smollett also still had the Subway sandwich on him when he turned up at an apartment building shortly after the alleged attack.
So Smollett underwent a vicious beating by two attackers that apparently lasted less than 60 seconds, since that is the reported gap in surveillance footage between an image of him without a rope around his neck and an image of him with the rope. Smollett now says he fought back, but apparently, he lost neither his Subway sandwich nor his cell phone in this brawl.
Also he didn’t immediately call the police on that phone to describe the suspects and inform the police which way they had gone when they suddenly ran away from him but instead waited about 40 minutes to inform the police.
Detectives are currently working to gather video, identify potential witnesses and establish an investigative timeline. The victim is fully cooperating with investigators and we ask anyone with information about this incident to contact Area Central Detectives at 312-747-8382 or report it anonymously to www.cpdtip.com."
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/more-st...lett-case/
Police Try to Track Down Video Footage of Incident
On Wednesday morning, a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said the department was “utilizing resources to investigate [this case] thoroughly." According to authorities, detectives continue to look at city and privately owned surveillance footage that was recorded in the area where the attack happened.
Meanwhile, an eyewitness told ET that Smollett visited a Subway fast food restaurant alone early Tuesday morning before the attack, ordered a sub and a salad, and left around 2:15 a.m.
An employee at the Subway restaurant not far from where Smollett was attacked previously told ET that Chicago Police came to the fast food restaurant early Tuesday afternoon looking to review surveillance footage. The Subway location is about a four to five-minute walk from the Loews Hotel where Smollett was reportedly staying.
A spokesperson for the Chicago Police Department told ET that Smollett still had the rope around his neck when he made contact with officers at 2:42 a.m. on Tuesday. The spokesperson says that Smollett told detectives in a follow-up interview late Tuesday afternoon that his two attackers yelled, “MAGA country” to him during the attack.
Smollett's manager, Brandon Z. Moore, told police he was on the phone with Smollett during the attack. ET also learned that Moore said he told police he clearly heard the MAGA comment in addition to both racial and homophobic slurs. ET was also told that Smollett is cooperating with police and the ongoing investigation.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Chicago Police shared that they had a new development in their investigation.
The police department revealed on Twitter on Wednesday that detectives had located a surveillance camera which shows persons of interest; hours later, photos were released to the public.
Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member. While video does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed.
(The problem with these two men is that they don't appear carrying anything that could be a bleach container. The man on the right appears to be lighting a cigarette.) (Further, the bleach would have frozen in the below zero temperatures.)
Guglielmi said detectives, who are investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from businesses and hotels in the heavily monitored area. But he said they still need to collect and view more.
He said they are expanding the search to include footage from public buses and buildings beyond the scene's immediate vicinity in the hopes of spotting the men who match Smollett's description of the suspects.
"We haven't seen anybody, at this point, matching the description he gave. Nobody looks menacing, and we didn't find a container anywhere," Guglielmi said, referring to a container for the liquid that the actor said was thrown at him.
https://abc7ny.com/empire-actor-attacked-in-p...y/5111427/
https://twitter.com/AJGuglielmi/status/109034...57/photo/1
