The lawyer for the two black 'Empire extras' detained over the Jussie Smollett attack says they are 'baffled' by the idea that they staged the attack and are innocent but has admitted they are friends with the star.
The two African American siblings have not been named since they were picked up at Chicago O'Hare airport on Wednesday night after returning from a trip to Nigeria to see family. Neither has been charged.
Chicago PD officers kicked in the door of their home and ransacked it on Thursday while they were being questioned, terrifying their family and confiscating a list of 'evidence' including a black ski mask, an Empire script and bleach.
According to police sources cited by local networks in Chicago, investigators are pursuing the theory that Smollett and the two men staged the attack because he was being written out of the popular Fox show.
Chicago Police Department has until 5.45pm on Friday to charge or release them.
Fox has strenuously denied that claim and the police department's spokesman refused to confirm it on Thursday.
'They were actually detained at customs at O’Hare airport yesterday around 5:45 p.m.
Gloria Schmidt, the lawyer for the two black Nigerian supporters said on Thursday they were 'baffled' when they were picked up by police and are innocent. She said they are friends with Smollett who were 'horrified' when he was attacked and would never hurt him
Reports emerged Thursday that police had raided the home of two persons of interest in the Smollett case who may have been the same men seen in surveillance footage around the time of the attack on January 29 (above)
'They had no idea what was going on, and they’ve been detained since then,' Gloria Schmidt, the pair's lawyer, told CBS Chicago on Thursday night.
'When they first learned about what happened to him they were horrified.
'This is someone they know. This is someone they’ve worked with, so they don’t want to see somebody go through that.
'They are really baffled why they are people of interest.
'They really don’t understand how they even got information that linked them to this horrific crime, but they are not guilty of it,' she said.
TMZ reported that detectives found the men by looking at ride-sharing history records from the night of the attack.
Smollett, 36, says he was attacked by two white men on January 29 as he walked home from a Subway at 2am.
He has since said he believes he was targeted because he is a vocal critic of President Trump and that he would have had more public support if he had said his attackers were 'black, Muslim or Mexican'.
Police seized a number of items from the house including several bottles of bleach, an Empire script and a black ski mask
Chicago PD broke the door to the brothers' family home when they raided it on Thursday and terrified their relatives inside
This was the scene after the police had 'searched' the family's home. Their relatives say they were asked about how the men knew Smollett
While Chicago PD will not confirm on the record that the two men being questioned are the two black actors, they did tell DailyMail.com on Thursday that they are the men who were seen in surveillance camera footage walking near the area of the attack at around the same time.
Smollett said on Thursday that he had 'no doubt' the people in the video were who punched him, tied a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him.
He said the attack, which only lasted around 30 seconds, included them saying: 'This is MAGA country!' and calling him 'Empire f****t n****r'.
On Thursday, the show issued a statement to deny that Jussie was being written out of the show.
'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,' it said.
Chicago police Thursday morning that two persons of interest were being questioned by detectives.
Hours later, CBS Chicago reporter Charlie De Mar tweeted that he'd spoken to family of the two brothers, who are Nigerian and were both extras on Empire.
Police reportedly seized a black face mask hat, an Empire script, a phone, receipts, five bottles of bleach, a red hat, two laptops and other items from the home.
The relative who was home when the raid went down Wednesday night described hearing loud banging on the door before police flooded into the home and announced that they had a search warrant.
The woman, who is in her 20s, told CBS Chicago she was 'so scared' and thought she was going to die. She said she was patted down by an officer and asked by detectives if she knew Smollett.
She said that she thinks the brothers are being question because of their loose Empire connection to Smollett and the fact that they left for Nigeria on the same day of the attack.
Smollett wept in his first interview about the attack that was aired on Good Morning America on Thursday and said he was heartbroken that his story had been questioned
The actor wept as he said 'who the f*** would make that up' when addressing the skepticism surrounding his version of events
Link hienalouca.com
https://hienalouca.com/2019/02/15/lawyer-for-two-black-empire-extras-detained-over-jussie-smollett-attack-says-they-are-innocent/
Main photo article The lawyer for the two black ‘Empire extras’ detained over the Jussie Smollett attack says they are ‘baffled’ by the idea that they staged the attack and are innocent but has admitted they are friends with the star.
The two African American siblings have not been named ...
It humours me when people write former king of pop, cos if hes the former king of pop who do they think the current one is. Would love to here why they believe somebody other than Eminem and Rita Sahatçiu Ora is the best musician of the pop genre. In fact if they have half the achievements i would be suprised. 3 reasons why he will produce amazing shows. Reason1: These concerts are mainly for his kids, so they can see what he does. 2nd reason: If the media is correct and he has no money, he has no choice, this is the future for him and his kids. 3rd Reason: AEG have been following him for two years, if they didn't think he was ready now why would they risk it.
Emily Ratajkowski is a showman, on and off the stage. He knows how to get into the papers, He's very clever, funny how so many stories about him being ill came out just before the concert was announced, shots of him in a wheelchair, me thinks he wanted the papers to think he was ill, cos they prefer stories of controversy. Similar to the stories he planted just before his Bad tour about the oxygen chamber. Worked a treat lol. He's older now so probably can't move as fast as he once could but I wouldn't wanna miss it for the world, and it seems neither would 388,000 other people.
Dianne Reeves US News HienaLouca
https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/02/15/13/9859880-6708821-Gloria_Schmidt_the_lawyer_for_the_two_black_Nigerian_supporters_-a-27_1550235998288.jpg
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