2men detained in Smollett case are released by police
The two brothers arrested in connection with the reported attack on the “Empire” star Jussie Smollett were released without being charged on Friday, a police spokesman said. They are no longer considered potential suspects.
“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 charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete,” Anthony Guglielmi, the Chicago Police Department spokesman, said in a statement.
That announcement was the latest twist in an investigation that started late last month, when Smollett told authorities he had been attacked early one morning by two masked men who yelled homophobic and racial slurs at him in downtown Chicago. Smollett also told the police at the time that the assailants had tied a rope around his neck and poured a chemical substance on him.
But the two people who were arrested are acquaintances of Smollett, a lawyer for themen said. At least one had appeared on “Empire,” a fact that had fueled social media speculation that at least parts of Smollett’s story were not true.
Police went from describing the twomen as possible suspects for whom there was probable cause to believe they were part of the crime to releasing them, without explanation as to what had changed.
In a brief phone interview late Friday night, Guglielmi said Smollett was still being treated as a victim. Since Smollett reported the attack, the police department has said several times publicly that it has no reason to doubt his story.
A representative for Smollett did not immediately respond late Friday to a request for comment on the latest development.
The men were initially detained Wednesday after arriving on a return flight from Niger ia. Also on Wednesday, thepolice raided their home and, according to CBS Chicago, removed items likean“Empire” script, a phone and a black face mask hat.
For weeks, the investigators — who have treated the case as a possible hate crime — had fewleads. They could not fifind surveillance footage showing any attack. However, within days of the reported episode, police released the images of two men who were in the area, whom police considered “potential persons of interest.” After “meticulous investigation with the use of advanced technology, interviews with the victim and witnesses, and transportation records ,” the police said, they discerned the two men’ s identities and detained them. Gloria Schmidt, a lawyer for the two men arrested, told CBSChicago: “They’re really bafflffled why they are people of interest. ... But they’re not guilty of it. They know that the evidence is going to prove them innocent. They send their best to Jussie.”