Lawyer for Men Questioned in Smollett Case Asked If Attack Was Staged: ‘That Will Come Out … in Due Time’
On the day after Chicago police released two men who had been questioned about the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett, Chicago police said they want to speak to the actor once again.
“Due to new evidence as a result of today’s interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the #Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete,” the police tweeted.
That work includes interviewing Smollett, the Chicago Tribune reported.
On Sunday, media accounts on CNN and Fox News, using unnamed sources, were reporting that police were no longer treating Smollett as a victim and were saying that the evidence they collected implied the attack on Smollett was staged.
Smollett’s attorneys fired back at those reports, Deadline reported.
“As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” said defense lawyers Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson in a statement.
“He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack,” the statement said. “Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”
Smollett, a gay, black actor who stars in the TV series “Empire,” has said that he was attacked at around 2 a.m. on January 29 as he walked on the street near his apartment building. Smollett has said two men shouted racial and homophobic slurs as they struck him and wrapped a rope around his neck yelling, “This is MAGA country!”
The attack provoked harsh condemnation on Twitter from entertainment and political circles.
Chicago police confirmed that the “trajectory” of the investigation had changed.
“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the ‘Empire’ case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”
Police said that the two men were the men seen on surveillance videos of the night of the attack.
“Yes, they are confirmed to be the men on scene by surveillance video,” Chicago police said, WLS reported. “The reason why they were there is now central to the investigation and we can’t get into that at this time.”
On Thursday, Smollett was interviewed about the alleged attack on “Good Morning America.” He said the men in the surveillance video had to have been his attackers.
“’Cause … I was there,” he said. “I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did.”
BUT THE TWO MEN SEEN IN THE VIDEO WERE NOT WEARING MAGA HATS!
https://www.westernjournal.com/lawyer-men-que...tyalliance
On the day after Chicago police released two men who had been questioned about the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett, Chicago police said they want to speak to the actor once again.
“Due to new evidence as a result of today’s interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the #Empire case have now been released without charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete,” the police tweeted.
That work includes interviewing Smollett, the Chicago Tribune reported.
On Sunday, media accounts on CNN and Fox News, using unnamed sources, were reporting that police were no longer treating Smollett as a victim and were saying that the evidence they collected implied the attack on Smollett was staged.
Smollett’s attorneys fired back at those reports, Deadline reported.
“As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” said defense lawyers Todd S. Pugh and Victor P. Henderson in a statement.
“He has now been further victimized by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack,” the statement said. “Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”
Smollett, a gay, black actor who stars in the TV series “Empire,” has said that he was attacked at around 2 a.m. on January 29 as he walked on the street near his apartment building. Smollett has said two men shouted racial and homophobic slurs as they struck him and wrapped a rope around his neck yelling, “This is MAGA country!”
The attack provoked harsh condemnation on Twitter from entertainment and political circles.
Chicago police confirmed that the “trajectory” of the investigation had changed.
“We can confirm that the information received from the individuals questioned by police earlier in the ‘Empire’ case has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. “We’ve reached out to the ‘Empire’ cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview.”
Police said that the two men were the men seen on surveillance videos of the night of the attack.
“Yes, they are confirmed to be the men on scene by surveillance video,” Chicago police said, WLS reported. “The reason why they were there is now central to the investigation and we can’t get into that at this time.”
On Thursday, Smollett was interviewed about the alleged attack on “Good Morning America.” He said the men in the surveillance video had to have been his attackers.
“’Cause … I was there,” he said. “I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did.”
BUT THE TWO MEN SEEN IN THE VIDEO WERE NOT WEARING MAGA HATS!
https://www.westernjournal.com/lawyer-men-que...tyalliance
