Posted on 02/15/2019 6:22:11 AM PST by Red Badger
CHICAGO (CBS) Investigators believe Jussie Smollett and the non-cooperating witnesses in last months alleged attack of the Empire actor potentially staged the attack, a source with intimate knowledge of the investigation tells CBS 2 Investigator Brad Edwards.
Chicago police raided the home of two persons of interest Wednesday night, a relative of those men says.
Police took bleach, shoes, electronics, receipts and other items from the home.
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Charlie De Mar ✔ @CharlieDeMar · 15h
BREAKING:Police raided the home of two persons of interest in Jussie Smollett case last night. Both men are of Nigerian decent and have appeared as extras on the show. Police took bleach, shoes electronics and more.Officers asked family if they knew #Jussiesmollett. @cbschicago View image on Twitter View image on Twitter
Charlie De Mar ✔ @CharlieDeMar
This information is according to family who says home was ransacked. I asked family why they think police picked the two brothers up for questioning and they replied by saying the men left for #Nigeria the day of the attack. @cbschicago 1,724 5:01 PM - Feb 14, 2019 Twitter Ads info and privacy
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The men, who are both of Nigerian descent, have appeared as extras on the show and their attorney, Gloria Schmidt, says they do both know Smollett.
They do know Jussie, she said. They have worked with him on Empire. My preliminary investigations show that on set its very tight. Theyre all very cordial with each other, so theyre baffled why they are people of interest.
The relative who was home Wednesday night says she heard a loud banging at the door, and that door came crashing down. She says a flood of officers were there saying they had a search warrant.
She says she was patted down by an officer, and police asked her if she knows Smollett. The woman, who is in her 20s, says she was so scared and thought she was going to die.
The woman says she was confused, but she did know Smollett was from the show. She says she feels the police picked the two brothers up for questioning because there is a loose connection to Smollett, and the men left for Nigeria the same day of the attack.
The mens attorney says they were visiting family in Nigeria and were picked up at OHare Wednesday night.
Smollett himself was questioned at CPD Area Central Thursday, police confirmed.
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Anthony Guglielmi ✔ @AJGuglielmi
Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate. 1,996 6:34 PM - Feb 14, 2019
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CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi says media reports about the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. He says the supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate.
20th Century Fox Television and Fox Entertainment released the following statement regarding the reports:
The idea that Jussie Smollett has been, or would be, written off of EMPIRE is patently ridiculous. He remains a core player on this very successful series and we continue to stand behind him.
Arrest him already!
Yet another entry on the literal fake hate crimes list.
http://fakehatecrimes.org/
If there was such a culture of racist hatred, there would be no need to fake any such attacks.
Empire. A show about blacks being...? What?
VIOLENT........................
Okay, thanks. Had not heard of this..................
Classic Freudian Projectionism. Lol. Just poor acting skills.
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