TWO RELEASED IN REPORTED ASSAULT ON SMOLLETT

CHICAGO» Chicago police said late Friday they have released two Nigerian brothers who had been arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of assaulting “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett, saying that detectives have additional investigative work to complete.

The men were picked up by police Wednesday at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and their apartment was searched Thursday. They were questioned Friday but police were obliged to release them if they had not been charged within 48 hours.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted: “Due to new evidence as a result of today’s interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charges.”

Smollett, who is gay, has said two masked men shouting racial and anti-gay slurs and “This is MAGA country!” beat him and looped a rope around his neck early on Jan. 29 before running away. He said they also poured some kind of chemical on him.

The police spokesman said there is “no evidence to say that this is a hoax” and that Smollett “continues to be treated by police as a victim, not a suspect.”

The two suspects, identified only as Nigerian brothers, were picked up at the airport on Wednesday on their return from Nigeria after police learned that at least one worked on “Empire,” Guglielmi said. He said he did not know what the man’s job was.

Police also searched the Chicago apartment where the men lived.