Chicago police investigating the alleged attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett (pictured in hospital afterwards FaceTiming with his on-screen father)
Jussie Smollett's neighbor has claimed to have seen a white 'redneck' man with a rope protruding from the back of his sweatshirt loitering outside his apartment building hours before the Empire star was beaten and had a noose tied round his neck in a racist and homophobic attack.
The unnamed woman told TMZ that she took her dogs out for a walk at 12.30am - 90 minutes before Smollett was ambushed - and saw the man pacing outside.
'He looked out of place,' she said, describing him as a white man who was wearing a blue sweatshirt, a blue beanie and jeans that were too short and exposed 'thick grey hunting socks.'
Most notable was that the man, who she said was agitated and smoking a cigarette, was carrying a blue and white rope or 'clothesline' which was protruding out from his zip-up sweater.
There was another man about 300ft away, she said, nearer the entrance. The woman said she was 'creeped out' by the pair and went back inside after five minutes.
When she woke up at 4am, there was lots of security round the building, she said.
Once the concierge told her what had happened to 36-year-old Smollett, she relayed to him what she had seen. The concierge implored her to phone the police, she said, which she did.
Her description came hours after Chicago Police Department released still images of two persons of interest and Smollett's representative, Brandon Z. Moore, confirmed the actor's account that he was attacked by two men who screamed 'this is MAGA country' after calling him a 'n****r' and a 'f****t'.
'Photos (pictured) of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member,' police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted Wednesday evening
The neighbor's version of events suggests that the two attackers were lying in wait for Smollett outside his apartment building.
When he was attacked nearby, Smollett was walking home from a Subway sandwich shop.
He arrived late into Chicago after having his flight from New York City delayed.
Smollett lives in Chicago while filming the Fox series Empire. He was in New York for a reading of the play Take Me Out, which tells the story of a gay baseball player.
The exact spot where he was attacked sits in between two luxury apartment buildings and two hotels but police say they have not recovered any surveillance footage of it.
A week before he was attacked, Smollett received a death threat letter at the network's studio but turned down security because he found it 'intrusive'.
'I heard that clearly. I heard the scuffle and I heard the racial slur,' Moore told Variety.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi shared the images on Twitter Wednesday evening.
'Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member,' Guglielmi wrote.
Guglielmi noted that while the video 'does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed'
The photos show two men walking on North New Street (depicted above) near East Illinois Street around 1.45am on Tuesday. Smollett told police that he was walking alone down East North Water Street in the 300-block around 2am when the two men approached him
Guglielmi noted that while the video 'does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed'.
The photos show two men walking on North New Street near East Illinois Street around 1.45am on Tuesday.
Smollett told police that he was walking alone down East North Water Street in the 300-block around 2am when the two men approached him. He was heading to his apartment at the time.
The release of the photos comes just hours after officers said they were unable to find an footage that showed two men attacking the actor.
Officers said that detectives reviewed CCTV video of Smollett walking to his apartment building in downtown Chicago Tuesday morning, and ‘for the most part’ they can confirm the route he took when he says he was accosted by the assailants.
The attack took place here, in the street, outside the apartment building where Smollett stays while he is in Chicago filming. It is in between two luxury apartment buildings and two hotels but police say they have not yet recovered surveillance footage of it
However, Guglielmi noted there were gaps and none of the footage police had reviewed showed the alleged attack.
Authorities said a community alert with photos is being constructed and will be disseminated shortly.
Smollett, who is black and gay and who plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox drama, said the white men wearing ski masks assaulted him, hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him, doused him with an ‘unknown chemical substance’ previously reported as bleach and put a thin rope around his neck.
The actor, who came out as gay to Ellen in 2015, had been walking from a local Subway sandwich shop when he was jumped.
'Aren't you the f***ot 'Empire' n*****?' Smollett recalled the men yelling at him.
On Tuesday the actor was brutally attacked by two white men wearing ski masks yelling 'This is MAGA country' as they poured bleach on him and tied a noose around his neck
The men then screamed MAGA before fleeing the scene.
Smollett suffered a fractured rib during the attack and is said to have put up a fight when he was beaten.
A noose was still around his neck at 2.42am when police arrived to the scene.
The actor then took himself to Northwestern Memorial Hospital where he was treated then released on Tuesday.
Smollett had just flown into Chicago from New York City just hours before the attack.
The actor had been in the Big Apple with actor Zachary Quinto Monday morning during a reading of Richard Greenberg’s seminal play Take Me Out, according to a post Quinto shared on Instagram.
Smollett said what should have been a two-hour flight from New York City to Chicago turned into a seven-hour nightmare due to the extreme cold.
Guglielmi said detectives investigating the allegations as a possible hate crime, have already looked at hundreds of hours of surveillance video from businesses and hotels in the heavily monitored area.
Officers expanded the search to include footage from public buses and buildings beyond the crime scene’s immediate vicinity in the hopes of spotting the men who match Smollett’s description of the suspects.
‘We haven’t seen anybody, at this point, matching the description he gave, nobody looks menacing and we didn’t find a container anywhere,’ Guglielmi said earlier on Wednesday, referring to a container for the liquid that was thrown at the actor.
Chicago has one of the most sophisticated and extensive video surveillance systems in the US, with thousands of CCTV cameras mounted on street poles, skyscrapers, buses and in train tunnels.
It was previously reported that just a week before the alleged attack, Fox offered the singer and actor based in Chicago an entourage of body guards for protection after the show's studio received a threatening, homophobic letter addressed to Smollett.
But Smollett declined around-the-clock security because he found it intrusive, according to TMZ.
The letter threatening Smollett was sent to the Fox studio on January 22 and was laced with a powdery substance believed to be Tylenol.
The FBI is now trying to determine if there's a link between the homophobic letter and the Tuesday attack.
Following the accident Fox has added security for the rest of the Empire cast. Much of the cast live in Chicago during filming.
The attacks are believed to be premeditated as Smollett received a cut out letter, that appears to be dated from January 18, stating that 'You will die black f*g'. Fox Studio received the letter on the 22nd and cops said it was laced with powder Tylenol
Smollett missed shooting on the set on Tuesday as he recovered from the brutal attack.
He reportedly still intends to return to the set and Empire will resume as planned.
Chicago Police said they canvassed the upscale downtown neighborhood where Smollett was attacked and found no still images or video from security cameras of the attack.
Cops have obtained surveillance footage of Smollett inside a Subway before the attack, but not any footage of the assailants.
'The Streeterville neighborhood where the alleged attack occurred has a very high density of city and private surveillance cameras.
'As of 10 p.m. Tuesday, detectives canvassed and reviewed hundreds of hours of video and have now expanded the search area along the Chicago riverfront hoping to find video to be able to release a public description of the offenders,' Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.
'Unfortunately, thus far we have not found any helpful information on a suspect or a suspect's vehicle to be able to share,' he added.
Police have made no arrests and have no solid suspects at this time.
They are opening the investigation to nearby businesses, traffic cameras, and nearby streets for surveillance footage.
A dozen police detectives and FBI are working in the case.
'Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime,' police said.
Smollett rose to fame play Jamal Lyon - an openly gay singer - on Fox's 'Empire' in 2015.
Link hienalouca.com This is interesting We are looking for an investor for a project to grow dinosaurs from chicken eggs and relict plants. Necessary amount of investments from 400 000 to 900 000 dollars. For all interested parties, e-mail angocman@gmail.com. This will be very interesting.https://hienalouca.com/2019/01/31/jussie-smolletts-neighbor-says-she-saw-a-redneck-with-a-rope-outside-his-apartment-before-attack/
Main photo article
Chicago police investigating the alleged attack on Empire star Jussie Smollett (pictured in hospital afterwards FaceTiming with his on-screen father)
Jussie Smollett’s neighbor has claimed to have seen a white ‘redneck’ man with a rope protruding from the back of his ...
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/2019/01/31/12/9180100-6653123-Chicago_police_investigating_the_alleged_attack_on_Empire_star_J-a-7_1548939570449.jpg
Комментариев нет:
Отправить комментарий