Community Corner Smollett Explains His Redacted Phone Records The "Empire" actor said he was protecting the privacy of his phone contacts. Reply CHICAGO — A day after "Empire" star Jussie Smollett handed over redacted phone records to Chicago police, a representative for the actor issued a statement explaining why the records were edited. The records were handed over to police Monday — nearly two weeks after Smollett reported an attack that police are calling a possible hate crime. The Chicago Police Department said the redacted phone records were insufficient for their investigation. In a statement obtained by NBC Chicago, Smollett's representative said the phone records were redacted "to protect the privacy of personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack." "Jussie is the victim here, which has been slated by the Superintendent of Police," the statement read. "Jussie has voluntarily provided his phone records from within an hour of the attack and given multiple statements to police. Chicago PD has repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie's account of what happened that night consistent and credible." Chicago police said Smollett was walking in the 300 block of E. North Water Street at about 2 a.m. Jan. 29, when two men wearing ski masks yelled homophobic and racial slurs and began beating the actor. They doused him with a chemical, believed to be bleach, and wrapped a rope around his neck, police said. Smollett said the men called out "This is MAGA country" while attacking him. Police said the actor's initial statement didn't report a mention of MAGA — he recalled it later on. Smollett's music manager confirmed that he was on the phone with the actor at the time of the reported attack and heard the men yelling the phrase. In the statement provided to NBC Chicago, Smollett's representative said that CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson "has been clear from day one that Jussie is a victim."<doc-sep>CHICAGO >> Jussie Smollett today said he redacted some information from his phone before giving it to Chicago police investigating a reported attack on the “Empire” actor in order to protect the privacy of contacts and people who are not relevant to the attack. Smollett’s representatives issued a statement a day after police said the heavily redacted phone records he turned over to detectives this week were insufficient for a criminal investigation. The statement is the latest in a back-and-forth between Smollett and police since he reported the attack in downtown Chicago on Jan. 29. Police have made no arrests and said they have found no surveillance video that shows the attack. They have released video of two people in the area at the time who they said were persons of interest. “Jussie is the victim here, which has been stated by the Superintendent of Police,” the statement said. “Jussie has voluntarily provided his phone records from within an hour of the attack and given multiple statements to police.” But Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said Monday that the phone records turned over by Smollett are in a heavily redacted document file and the records from the manager Smollett says he was talking to when the attack occurred were a screenshot of phone calls. He says the records aren’t sufficient for an investigation. Smollett’s statement said he had good reasons for turning over limited information. “Any redacted information was intended to protect the privacy of personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack,” his statement said. Smollett, who is black and openly gay, told police that his attackers doused him with an unknown chemical substance, shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him before and looped a thin rope tied like a noose around his neck. Smollett also told detectives that before they ran off, the attackers yelled “This is MAGA country, ” a reference to the “Make America Great Again” slogan President Donald Trump uses. Smollett and his family have insisted that he has been truthful about the attack and his story has not changed since it happened. Police have collected video surveillance footage from cameras in the downtown area and have also extended their search to stores in the area in the hopes of gathering evidence on who might have purchased the rope.<doc-sep>Chicago police said the "limited and heavily redacted" phone records "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett turned over detectives "do not meet the burden for a criminal investigation" as cops continue looking into Smollett's claim he was the victim of a racist, homophobic attack late last month, WBBM-TV reported. Smollett's music manager, Brandon Z. Moore, told ABC News he was on the phone with Smollett during the alleged Jan. 29 attack and heard a "scuffle" and a "racial slur," but Smollett initially refused to release his phone to cops so they could verify the claim. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the New York Post that "we offered to take the phone to download the data, and he expressed he couldn't be without his phone for several hours." Insufficient records But while Smollett had a change of heart and gave police redacted phone records, the department said they are insufficient. "We are very appreciative of the victim's cooperation. However, the records provided do not meet the burden for a criminal investigation, as they were limited and heavily redacted," police told WBBM in an email. "Detectives may be following up with the victim to request additional data to corroborate the investigative timeline." Guglielmi added to the station that the redactions in the PDF file from Smollett are "extreme" but do include the hour before the alleged attack. What's the background? Numerous media outlets ran with a TMZ report saying the openly gay actor was beaten up after walking out of a Subway restaurant around 2 a.m. by two white men wearing ski masks who asked, "Aren't you that f***ot 'Empire' n*****?" before pouring bleach on him, putting a noose around his neck, and yelling, "This is MAGA country! "— a reference to President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign slogan, "Make America Great Again." Chicago police told TheBlaze there was "no mention of MAGA" in initial reports, but when detectives followed up with Smollett later on the day of the attack, he recalled the attackers making those comments, and detectives completed a supplemental report. Police didn't specify the race of the alleged suspects but did call it a "possible racially charged assault and battery" and that they are "treating it as a possible hate crime." Smollett reportedly wore rope 'like a necktie' Police told ABC News Smollett was seen on camera walking into an apartment with a rope around his neck and "wearing it like a necktie" before calling cops from inside the building. CBS News said "when police got to his apartment, they said a noose was still around Smollett's neck." Rob Elgas of WLS-TV in Chicago reported that "when Smollett contacted police at 2:42AM, he was still wearing the rope around his neck. The alleged encounter occurred at 2AM. Police have the rope and it will be analyzed." Other curious details: According to another tweet from Elgas, "Smollett requested responding Chicago police officers turn off their body cameras as they arrived to take his report. A spokesman says this is not uncommon when officers enter a private residence." Elgas added that Chicago police have a security image of Smollett alone inside a Subway sandwich shop near the location of the reported crime, and that cops also obtained additional video placing him at the scene of the crime. But sources told CBS News they've seen security video of Smollett outdoors early Tuesday morning and "nothing of an assault." The weather in Chicago at midnight Jan. 29 — two hours before the alleged attack — showed a low temperature of 1 degree with 14-mph winds. Guglielmi told The Associated Press that detectives have looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from businesses and hotels in the heavily monitored area and are expanding the search to include footage from public buses and buildings beyond the scene's immediate vicinity in the hopes of spotting the individuals who match Smollett's description. "We haven't seen anybody, at this point, matching the description he gave," Guglielmi added to the AP. Although police have since asked for help from the public in identifying two persons of interest from surveillance recordings near the site of the attack near the time it occurred. The AP added that Chicago has one of the nation's most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems, including thousands of cameras on street poles, skyscrapers, buses, and in train tunnels — and that police said such cameras have helped them make thousands of arrests. <br> Smollett's neighbor doesn't believe the story A neighbor of Smollett cast doubt on his story. "I don't believe it happened the way he said it did," Agin Muhammad, who lives in the same apartment complex as the actor, told the Post. "I've been in this neighborhood five years. I don't believe it, not around here. … Half the people are gay and the other half are black." Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters that if police suspect Smollett's story is a hoax, he will be held accountable. Other details A threatening letter and drawing to Smollett was sent to the Fox television studio in Chicago on Jan. 22, police told ABC News, and it contained a powdery substance that investigators believe was likely crushed-up Tylenol. The Post said last week it traced Smollett's likely route to the underpass from a 24-hour Subway sandwich shop where he bought a tuna sandwich and a salad, and that near the foot of a stairwell to the Loews, the paper found an empty hot sauce bottle that was partially filled with a clear liquid that smelled like bleach. Guglielmi told the Post that after police seized the bottle it was turned over to the FBI for analysis; the FBI declined to comment.<doc-sep>
Jussie Smollett sent Chicago police his redacted phone records to protect the privacy of his personal contacts and high-profile individuals as authorities continue to investigate his reported attack, the actor's representative said Tuesday. Smollett, who stars in Fox's Empire as one of the most prominent black gay characters on television, told authorities that he was attacked in the early morning hours of Jan. 29 by two men who yelled racist and anti-gay slurs, hit him in the face, poured a bleachlike chemical on him, and tied a rope around his neck. Authorities said Smollett also reported that his attackers yelled, "This is MAGA country." Police are investigating the incident as a possible hate crime. Both Smollett and his music manager, Brandon Z. Moore, have told authorities that they were talking to each other on the phone during the reported attack, but as of Sunday, police said they were unable to independently verify the call. "We have no reason to doubt the statements, but for a criminal investigation, we need to independently confirm the phone records,” Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the New York Post on Sunday. Guglielmi told the Post that police had offered to take Smollett's phone to download the data, but that the actor "expressed he couldn't be without his phone for several hours." However, Chicago police on Monday said that Smollett had submitted "limited and redacted" phone records, but added that they were not "sufficient" for the ongoing investigation. "The records that were sent to us are not sufficient in a criminal case," a Chicago police spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. Officials are analyzing the records and would contact Smollett "should additional information be needed," the spokesperson added. Smollett "voluntarily provided his phone records" within an hour of the attack, his publicist, Peter Larsen, said in a statement Tuesday. "Any redacted information was intended to protect the privacy of personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack," the statement said. Larsen also said the actor has given police "multiple statements" and that investigators have "repeatedly informed us that they find Jussie’s account of what happened that night consistent and credible." "[Smollett] is still considered a victim," the Chicago police spokesperson said, adding that some reports about police possibly charging the actor for making a false report were inaccurate. Authorities are also analyzing a hot sauce bottle reportedly containing a clear, bleach-like liquid that was found by a New York Post reporter last week while retracing Smollett's steps during the reported assault. The police spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that authorities had no information so far that would connect the bottle to the incident. "[The bottle] was not found the first several times when officers and detectives canvassed the area," the spokesperson said. "We are analyzing it." The FBI, which is assisting Chicago police, declined to comment on the bottle, as did Smollett's representatives.