Police have identified two persons of interest, including an actor who appeared in Empire, who were captured on surveillance footage near the scene where Jussie Smollett was attacked in a hate crime.
Smollet says he is certain that the two men caught on camera were the same involved in the January 29 incident.
TMZ reports that one of the men is an actor who has appeared in Empire.
Chicago Police Department would not confirm that detail on Thursday when contacted by DailyMail.com but a spokesman said the only people being interviewed were the two who were filmed on surveillance camera walking near where the attack happened at around the same time.
The men have not been charged but were picked up by police at Chicago O’Hare Airport on Wednesday night, according to the TMZ report, which claims they were found by detectives who looked at ride-sharing history records from the night of the attack to find them.
It was also reported that Smollett was being questioned over the incident again but police would not confirm that fact either.
The announcement came on Thursday hours after Smollett spoke at length about the attack in his first interview since and condemned the skepticism he has been confronted with since it became public.
He told Good Morning America that he has ‘never’ had ‘any doubt’ that the two people in the image were the ones who attacked him and that when Chicago PD released their image within the first few days of the incident, he became hopeful justice would be served.
Since then, there have been few developments and the police department has repeatedly spoken of the fact that Smollett did not hand over his phone when asked to do so on the night of the incident.
The two men, whose names have not been released, were filmed near to where Smollett was attacked on January 29 at 2am. They were filmed walking on the same street as the Empire star and getting up after he walked past them on the other side of the street.
To Smollett’s despair, no footage of the actual attack has been uncovered yet.
Chicago PD have identified the two men they described as persons of interest in the Jussie Smollett case earlier this month, two weeks after the actor was attacked and within hours of his first interview about it. The two persons of interest have not been named
Wearing a collection of pins to show support of Pride and Freedom First among others, in his interview with Good Morning America that aired on Thursday, Jussie Smollett spoke in detail about the attack he suffered on January 29 and was overcome with emotion at several points
In a Twitter statement on Thursday morning, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote: ‘Through s meticulous investigation, Chicago Police detectives have identified the persons of interest in the area of the alleged attack of the Empire cast member.
‘These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of concern and are being questioned. Investigation continues.’
He posted a second tweet within a few minutes which read: ‘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. We remain in communication with the alleged victim. ‘
In his hour-long interview with Good Morning America that was aired in part on Thursday, Smollett, wearing a collection of badges to show his support of Freedom and Pride among other causes, revealed his frustration at some of the public disbelief surrounding his version of events.
He said he does not think he would have been met with the same cynicism if his attackers weren’t white Trump supporters and revealed his belief that he was targeted because he is a vocal critic of the president.
Smollett also went into detail about why he did not immediately hand over his phone to the police to verify parts of his story and said he was trying to protect private photographs, videos, songs and phone numbers of high profile people and his partner.
He said he was frustrated that Chicago Police had not yet found surveillance footage of the incident and revealed his disappointment after learning that a camera at the very spot of the attack was turned in the opposite direction when it took place.
Choking back tears, he explained when asked why it took so long for him to contact the authorities: ‘There is a level of pride there. We live in a society where as a gay man you are considered somehow to be weak and I am not weak. I am not weak and we as a people are not weak.’
Smollett also shared new photographs of his injuries which he said included a burn on his neck where the rope was placed and facial scratches
Describing the chain of events once police arrived at his apartment at the request of 60-year-old Frank Gatson, his friend who was at the apartment when the attack took place.
‘I told them what happened. I asked them to turn their body cameras off. I was like, “Please just come in.
‘I don’t want a big scene with my neighbors,”‘ he said, adding that he had left the rope around his neck and his bleach-doused clothes on for them to see.
He said that while he left the rope around his neck, it was not ‘wrapped’ tightly.
After the police had come into his apartment, he took them down to where the attack happened to walk them through it and became excited when he noticed a camera overlooking the exact spot where it took place.
‘I told them what happened. I asked them to turn their body cameras off. I was like, “Please just come in. I don’t want a big scene with my neighbors,
‘I looked up and saw there was a camera, directly on the post on the intersection.
‘Then the detective told me that the camera was facing north so they didn’t have it and that was disappointing.’
Later, he added how desperate he was for them to find footage of the attack.
‘I want that video found so badly because, for probably four reasons.
‘Number one, I want them to find the people that did it.
‘Number two, I want them to stop being able to say “alleged” attack.
‘Number three, I want them to see that I fought back,’ he continued, welling-up.
‘I want a little gay boy who might watch this to see that I fought the f*** back. They ran off,’ I didn’t,’ he said.
He was overcome with emotion when presented with the prospect that his attackers might not be found.
‘Let’s just hope that they are found. Let’s not go there yet. I was talking to a friend and I said,”I just hope they find them.” And she said, “Sweetie, they’re not going to find them.”
Trump condemned the attack was ‘horrible’ when asked about it last month. Smollett said on Thursday that he did not know how to react to the president’s reaction
‘That made me so angry. I’m just going to be left here with this? They get to go free and go about their life and do this to someone else and I am left with the aftermath of this bulls**t? That’s not cool to me.
‘I understand how difficult it will be to find them, but we gotta.
‘I still want to believe there’s something called justice,’ he said.
Addressing why he did not hand over his phone to prove that he had been on a call with his manager when the attack took place, he said he did not feel comfortable being without the device for several hours when it contained the private information and phone numbers of celebrities and friends.
‘They wanted me to give my phone to the tech for three to our hours. And I’m sorry but, I’m not going to do that because I have private pictures and videos and phone numbers, my partner’s number, my family’s numbers, my cast mates’ numbers, my private emails, private songs, voice memos, pictures, videos…
‘Honestly, by then, inaccurate statements had already been put out,’ he said, referring to the false reports which emerged in the immediate aftermath of the attack including that the assailants were wearing MAGA hats and that his ribs were broken in it.
Smollett became tearful at several points during the interview as he described how he did not want to seem ‘weak’ when he finally agreed to report the incident to the police
Smollett condemned the avalanche of false information and speculation over why he had gone out so late which ensued after it became public.
If I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more.
‘I’ve heard that it was a date hone bad which I so resent that narrative. I’m not going to go out to get a tuna sandwich and a salad to meet somebody. That’s ridiculous and offensive.
‘Yes there’s Grindr… I have not been on that in years. I can admit that I was on that back in the day when I was single,’ he said.
Another falsehood was that Smollett had told police his attackers were wearing MAGA hats.
‘That I had said they were wearing MAGA hats,’ he said, giving an example of the misinformation that was spread.
‘I never said that. I don’t need to add anything like that. They called me a f****t. I don’t need to add anything like that. I don’t need to make MAGA hat the cherry on the top of some racist sundae,’ he said.
‘It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim or a Mexican or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me a lot more.
‘That says a lot about the place that we are at in the country right now,’ he said solemnly.
The attackers called him ‘Empire f****t n****r’, punched him in the face, and told him ‘This is MAGA country!’ before fleeing.
Smollett believes they targeted him not only because he is gay and black but because is a vocal critic of the president who he referred to only as ’45’.
‘I can just assume, I come really, really hard against 45. I come really, really hard against his administration and I don’t hold my tongue.’
He said he was stunned when the president addressed the attack in the Oval Office and lent him his support. Trump, when asked about the incident, told reporters: ‘I saw it. That’s horrible. There is nothing worse as far as I am concerned.’
Smollett was shocked by his comments.
‘I don’t know what to say to that. I appreciate him not brushing over it,’ he said, adding that he believes he was targeted because of his disdain for the president.
‘I can only go off their words. Who says ‘f****t’, ‘Empire n****r’, ‘This MAGA country,’ ties a noose around your neck and pours bleach on you, and this is just a friendly fight?’ he said.
He added he has ‘no doubt’ that two people in a surveillance camera image that was circulated by Chicago police are the pair who attacked him.
‘I was there. For me when that was released I was like OK we’re getting somewhere.
‘I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did.’
He also said he gave police the ‘best description’ he could after his friend, Frank Gatson, insisted that they call the police around 40 minutes after the attack.
One of the attackers was wearing a ski mask. Smollett, 36, described him as the ‘primary aggressor’.
‘I gave the description as best as I could. It’s Chicago in winter. People can wear ski masks and nobody’s going to question that,’ he said.
Last week, police discovered a Chilli Habanero hot sauce bottle which seemed to contain bleach (above). It was found near where Smollett says he was attacked and had bleach poured on him . It was found 10 days after the attack
He said he had a large stature but could not recall any other details of either man’s appearance, saying that he did not even see what color their eyes were.
The Empire actor became emotional as he recalled realizing that they had placed a noose around his neck after hitting him in the face and ribs and calling him a racial slur.
‘I noticed the rope around my neck and I said, “There’s a f****** rope around my neck,”‘ he said.
‘I’m p****d off. It’s the attackers but it’s also the attacks. At first it was a thing of like, listen if I tell the truth then that’s it cause it’s the truth.
‘Then it became a thing of like, “Oh, how can you doubt that? How can you not believe that. It’s the truth.”
‘And then it became a thing of like, “Oh. It’s not necessarily that you don’t believe that this is the truth, you don’t even want to see the truth,’ he said.
He also addressed the threatening letter he received in the mail a week before the attack at the Empire studio which contained a powder police believe may have been Tylenol.
A week before the attack, Smollett received this threatening letter at the Fox studio where he works
‘On the letter it had a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing to it. The return address said in big red caps, MAGA.
‘Did I make that up too?’ he said.
It was not the first attack he has received, he said, adding that he had become accustomed to them as an ‘outspoken public figure’.
‘I get threatened all the time on Twitter and Instagram and DMs and things like that but it’s like, you know, I’m a public figure. I am very outspoken. Sometimes maybe too outspoken. But it’s who I am.
‘So I get the idea of p****** people off, that you’re going to rub people the wrong way.’
Smollett is pictured in the hospital after a friend called the police to report him being attacked. He did not want to involve authorities
In the initial aftermath of the attack, Smollett received an outpouring of support from celebrities and fans alike who all condemned the discrimination he was subjected to.
But in the weeks since, details of the incident have been picked over forensically.
Some of his neighbors have expressed skepticism that it happened the way he said it did and the lack of evidence has done nothing to quell their cynicism.
They have also pointed out repeatedly that Smollett did not immediately turn over his phone records or his phone to prove that he was on a call with his manager, Brandon Z. Moore, when the attack took place as claimed.
It carries special significance because Moore claims to have heard the attackers calling Smollett ‘Empire f****t n****r’ and shouting: ‘This is MAGA country!’
Within the first few days of the attack, he gave an interview to Variety saying he had heard the slurs but he has not spoken about it since.
On Monday, Smollett finally did hand over his records but they were redacted.
Chicago Police Department described them as ‘insufficient proof’ of the call.
The actor angrily responded that via a representative that he was never told as much and that they were redacted to protect ‘personal contacts or high-profile individuals not relevant to the attack.’
The rest of Smollett’s ABC interview will be shown on Nightline on Thursday.
Smollett and his manager Brandon Z. Moore are pictured. Brandon claimed to have heard Smollett’s attackers calling him ‘Empire f****t n***r’ and shouting ‘This is MAGA country!’
It was Smollett’s 60-year-old friend Frank Gatson who insisted that they report the attack to police after he returned home with a rope around his neck