The two African American brothers being questioned over the Jussie Smollett attack are actors Abimbola 'Abel' and Obalinjo 'Ola' Osundairo, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The pair were picked up by police at Chicago O'Hare Airport on Wednesday as they arrived back in America after visiting family in Nigeria to be questioned over the January 29 attack involving the star.
Family say they went to Africa on January 29, hours after the Smollett attack.
Ola appeared on Empire in 2015 and both brothers have had minor roles on Chicago PD.
Smollett, who has been accused of staging the attack to save his job on the Fox show, follows their joint Instagram account and, according to their lawyer, sometimes goes to the gym with them.
The brothers' names are also included on a list of evidence that was left at their home after Chicago PD officers ransacked it on Thursday and the pair are listed in public records as the tenants of that house.
Scroll down for video
Abimbola 'Abel' (left), 25, and Obalinjo 'Ola' Osundairo (right) are the two brothers being questioned over the Jussie Smollett attack whose home was raided in Chicago on Wednesday
Ola appeared on the second season of Empire as an extra. He is shown with Lee Daniels, the show's creator, on set in 2015
The brothers' names are included in the list of evidence left at the home by Chicago PD officers who also found an 'Empire script', bleach, black ski masks and phone records at the home
Smollett follows the brothers' joint Instagram account where they post videos and photographs of themselves working out
Before returning to the US on Wednesday, they shared photographs and videos on Instagram of their time in Nigeria.
Neither has been charged and Chicago Police Department has until 5.45pm on Friday to arrest them or release them.
Their lawyer Gloria Schmidt spoke out on Thursday to say they were 'baffled' by the allegations against them and that they are innocent.
'They were actually detained at customs at O’Hare airport yesterday around 5:45 p.m.
'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.
Among items police seized from the home were black ski masks. It is not known if they were the same as those shown above which the brothers sell online. Smollett said one of his attackers was wearing a ski mask when he was attacked
Gloria Schmidt, the brothers' lawyer, said on Thursday that they were innocent and were 'baffled' by the idea that Smollett may have staged the attack
Chicago PD confirmed on Thursday that the pair seen in this image from surveillance footage around the time of the attack on January 29 (above) were the two people in custody. DailyMail.com can confirm that those people are Abel and Ola Osundairo
'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'.
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.
Chicago PD broke the door to the brothers' family home when they raided it on Wednesday 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
'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 also would not confirm that it was a hoax.
'Interviews will resume today with the two people of interest and their attorney. While we haven't found any video documenting the alleged attack,
'There is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax. The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as the victim, not a suspect.
'The investigation continues,' Anthony Guglielmi, Chicago PD spokesman, said on Friday.
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 where the brothers live.
The relative, who was home when the raid happened on 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/pictured-two-nigerian-actor-brothers-detained-over-jussie-smollett-attack/
Main photo article The two African American brothers being questioned over the Jussie Smollett attack are actors Abimbola ‘Abel’ and Obalinjo ‘Ola’ Osundairo, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The pair were picked up by police at Chicago O’Hare Airport on Wednesday as they arrived back in ...
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/2019/02/15/14/9864298-6708821-image-m-14_1550242723677.jpg
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий