Chicago Police have released photos of two persons of interest in the targeted hate crime on Empire star Jussie Smollett earlier this week.
Chicago Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi released an update on the case, revealing how investigators have acquired footage that could lead to the arrests of the Empire actor’s assailants.
“Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member,” Guglielmi tweeted alongside the photos of the figures, both wearing dark clothing, walking side-by-side.
“While video does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed.”
Photos of people of interest who were in area of the alleged assault & battery of Empire cast member. While video does not capture an encounter, detectives are taking this development seriously & wish to question individuals as more cameras are being reviewed pic.twitter.com/xJDDygtocr
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) January 31, 2019
Guglielmi told PEOPLE that they recently widened the search of both public and private surveillance cameras in the area surrounding the alleged attack in order to find the attackers.
“The victim goes to Subway just after midnight and on his way back, he was attacked by two men,” Guglielmi stated. “They were masked and wearing black clothing. They called him an Empire … and they used a homophobic slur. They also used the N-word. They proceed to assault him, and they throw a chemical on him that may have been bleach, and put a rope around neck.”
Guglielmi reveals the actor returned to his apartment afterwards and called his manager, who quickly travelled to Smollett’s home.
“The manager goes to the apartment, and they agree to call police. The manager called us at 2:40 a.m.,” Guglielmi added.
Police patrols “responded to the residence to take a report and the victim was still wearing the rope around his neck when they arrived,” he said. “He explained to them why he had the rope around his neck, and the officers closed their body cams at his request, because they were in his private residence.”
In his second interview with police, Smollett remembered his attackers calling out the Donald Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.”
