The Chicago Police say they have identified persons of interest who were in the area of Jussie Smollett's attack.
The Chicago Police say they have identified persons of interest who were in the area of Jussie Smollett's attack.
Late last month, police shared that detectives had located a surveillance camera which shows persons of interest and released the photos to the public. On Thursday, Chicago Police Department spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said they have identified the two people in question.
"Through meticulous investigation, #ChicagoPolice detectives have identified the persons of interest in the area of the alleged attack of the Empire cast member," Guglielmi tweeted. "These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned. Investigation continues."
"The people of interest are alleged to be in the area where a crime was reported. They are not considered suspects at this time as they are currently being questioned by detectives," Guglielmi added. "We remain in communication with the alleged victim."
On Thursday, Smollett appeared on Good Morning America, and emotionally detailed his attack in his first on-camera interview since the incident.
"I heard as I was crossing the intersection, I heard, ‘Empire!’ I don’t answer to Empire,” he said. "My name ain’t Empire. And I didn’t answer. I kept walking and then I heard ‘f****t Empire n****r’ so I turned around and said, ‘The f**k did you just say to me?’”
"I see the attacker, masked," he continued. "He said, ‘This MAGA country, n****r,’ punches me right in the face. So I punched his a** back. And then we started tussling. It was very icy and we ended up tussling by the stairs. Fighting, fighting, fighting, there was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back. Then it just stopped and they ran off, and I saw where they ran.”
He said he then noticed there was a rope around his neck.
“It was so fast,” Smollett said of the attack. “It felt like minutes, but it probably was like 30 seconds, honestly. I can’t tell you, honestly. I noticed the rope and I started screaming. I said, ‘There’s a f**king rope around my neck.’"
Smollett said he was desperate for video footage of his attack to be found.
"I want that video found so badly for probably four reasons," he explained. "No. 1, I want them to find the people that did it. No. 2, I want them to stop being able to say ‘alleged attack.’ No. 3, I want them to see that I fought back. And I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought back… They ran off. I didn’t.”
Watch the video below for more:
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