Jussie Smollett assault case has 'shifted,' Chicago police say
Posted: Feb 17, 2019 / 04:19 AM EST / Updated: Feb 17, 2019 / 04:19 AM EST
FILE – In this May 20, 2016 file photo, actor and singer Jussie Smollett attends the "Empire" FYC Event in Los Angeles. Chicago police say they're interviewing two "persons of interest" who surveillance photos show were in the downtown area where Smollett says he was attacked last month. A police spokesman said Thursday the two […]
CHICAGO (AP) – Chicago police say "the trajectory of the investigation" into the reported attack on Jussie Smollett has shifted and they want to conduct another interview with the "Empire" actor.
Chicago police late Friday released without charges two Nigerian brothers they had detained for questioning earlier in the week.
On Saturday, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi issued a statement saying: "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. We've reached out to the Empire cast member's attorney to request a follow-up interview."
Smollett, who is black and gay, has said he was attacked by two masked men shouting racial and anti-gay slurs and "This is MAGA country!" He said they looped a rope around his neck before running away as he was out getting food at a Subway restaurant early on Jan. 29. He said they also poured some kind of chemical on him.
Police have been unable to find surveillance video of the attack.
A spokeswoman for Smollett did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Guglielmi's statement.