According to Daily Mail, Chicago police now believe Jussie Smollett paid the two Nigerian brothers to beat him up.The two men involved in the alleged hoax are now fully cooperating with law enforcement, CNN is reporting on Saturday.
On January 29, two men ‘yelled out racial and homophobic slurs’ while attacking Smollett, the actor told police.
One of the assailants tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance on him, Smollett claimed at the time.
That narrative, however, is now under serious scrutiny by investigators.
The cable channel is reporting that documents prove two Nigerian brothers who work as extras on the highly rated Fox drama bought the rope which was found around Smollett’s neck at a local Ace Hardware store in Chicago.
Chicago police are now ‘eager to speak to Jussie Smollett’ in light of the new information that was uncovered, according to ABC News.
‘We have been in touch with Smollett’s attorneys,’ a Chicago Police Department spokesperson said.
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What have Smollett’s lawyers said?
“Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” a statement from lawyers Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson said.
“He has now been further victimised by claims attributed to these alleged perpetrators that Jussie played a role in his own attack. Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying.”
One of the brothers is Smollett’s personal trainer, and the lawyers said it was “impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity”.
False reporting is a class 4 felony in the state of Illinois, punishable by up to 3 years in prison. If this is true and he set up his own attack, I hope he gets all three.
To be continued…