“Empire” star Jussie Smollett was released from the hospital in “good condition” a few hours after he was allegedly assaulted by two masked assailants on the streets of Chicago.
As we previously reported, the attack went down around 2:00 a.m. Tuesday night and police are investigating it as a hate crime, since the perpetrators reportedly yelled racial and homophobic slurs at the actor. The suspects also doused Smollett with bleach and tied a noose around his neck during the vicious assault.
Chicago investigators are now searching for surveillance footage that may show the attack. The Blast reportedly obtained dispatch audio of officials “canvassing” the area for cameras near Smollett’s apartment building in the city, where he films the hit FOX music drama “Empire.”
KAMALA HARRIS CALLS RACIALLY-CHARGED ATTACK ON JUSSIE SMOLLETT A ‘MODERN DAY LYNCHING’
Several outlets also reported that the perpetrators were white and yelled “this is MAGA country” as they attacked Jussie. But a spokesperson for the Chicago police denied having any information about the race and political views of the attackers.
“According to the victim, the offenders’ faces were concealed,” a police spokesperson told Reason. “We have no record indicating that [they shouted ‘MAGA’], we only have record of them shouting racial and homophobic slurs at him.”
Chicago police have also released a statement contradicting claims that Smollett identified his attackers’ race and heard them shout “MAGA.”
“We have no record of The MAGA Country comment,” said the police in a statement. “We have racial and homophobic comments documented.”
Meanwhile, reason.com posted the following update last night after receiving an email from the Chicago PD which stated that “in the initial reports there was no mention of MAGA,” but “when detectives follow[ed] up with him later in the day, he recalled the offender[s] making those comments and detectives completed a supplemental report.”
As noted by the report, it would appear that earlier statements by the police were erroneous.
Here are screenshots of the police statements.
First:
Second:
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In related news, Erykah Badu has come under fire after calling for “the facts” before folks jump to conclusions about what happened to Jussie.
“Are y’all sure you know the facts before we tare shit up ? Cause just last week ..every head line written about me was all out of context and manipulated to trigger YOUR outrage,” she wrote on Twitter, referencing the backlash she received last week after defending R. Kelly during a live performance.
Peep her tweets below:
Are y’all sure you know the facts before we tare shit up ? Cause just last week ..every head line written about me was all out of context and manipulated to trigger YOUR outrage.
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) January 29, 2019
Love to Jussie.
— ErykahBadoula (@fatbellybella) January 29, 2019
And here are some of the reactions to her statement:
Time to block and mute Erykah Badu.
She really is a faux-spiritual bird.
I can’t. I’m done. pic.twitter.com/L0PyVLQuWV
— Kirk Moore (@KirkWrites79) January 29, 2019
If this is about Jussie Smollett, your quickness to throw doubt on his situation versus your quickness to defend a predator is very telling. ??♀️ https://t.co/RjW3lMy99c
— Raquel Willis (@RaquelWillis_) January 29, 2019
If the word, “Noose” comes up in an incident report; it’s a HATE CRIME pic.twitter.com/eD3QJlv7H2
— Greg J. Harmon (@IamGregordeee) January 29, 2019
it was easy for you to campaign for pedophile kelly, but you’re hesitant to show love and support to a queer black man that was attacked for his race and sexual orientation? https://t.co/A5p0ZFBo0b
— vaun (@_Vaun) January 29, 2019
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