The Chicago Police Department confirmed Friday that the suspects arrested in the alleged racist and homophobic attack against “Empire” star Jussie Smollett on Jan. 29. were two black men.
The men were identified as Nigerian brothers, The Associated Press reported. CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said both were arrested for suspicion of assault and battery. One of the suspects was on “Empire.”
TMZ reported the names of the suspects, but CPD officer Michelle Tannehill said to The Daily Caller News Foundation over email they “do not have the names of the persons of interest.”
Smollett reported two men beat him up, tied a rope around his neck, said racial and homophobic slurs and threw an unidentified chemical substance on him on Jan. 29, according to The AP.
He claimed that the attackers said “This is MAGA (Make America Great Again) country,” in a follow-up interview with CPD.
TMZ originally reported the alleged attackers were white and they were told twice that their reporting reflected Smollett’s version of events accurately.
CPD said the attack could have been racially motivated in a statement released after the incident was reported.
The “Empire” star disputed that he ever said the attackers wore MAGA hats in a Good Morning America interview Thursday. Smollett added he believed more people would have supported instead of doubted him had he said the perpetrators were Muslim, Mexican or ‘someone black.’
Several media outlets and journalists circulated allegations from sources that Smollett and the two men were conspirators and the attack was staged. Guglielmi, however, said the “supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate” on Twitter Thursday.
https://twitter.com/AJGuglielmi/status/1096206043728789507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener
Police do not have footage of the incident, but are still looking, The AP reported.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org
When China was granted most-favored-nation status in 1997 and allowed into the World Trade Organization…
Secretary of Energy Chris Wright outlined America’s long-term goal for securing global trade passing through…
As fewer Americans overdose from fentanyl, a new drug is taking the country by storm.…
Repeated attacks by the Russian military are hammering Ukrainian ports so hard that the nation…
During Amy Klobuchar’s time in the U.S. Senate, she supported efforts to improve the Somali…