Police in Chicago have arrested two Nigerian brothers in connection with an alleged racist and homophobic attack on black actor Jussie Smollett last month.
Smollett, 36, who is gay, has said his attackers were white and that his story would not have been doubted if an attacker had been “a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black”. He stated that they had punched and kicked him, abused him with homophobic epithets and shouted: “This is MAGA country.”
Several media outlets have reported that the suspects are Nigerian and TMZ confirmed they are black. It has also emerged that the brothers were extras on the “Empire” show in which Smollett stars.
Smollett claimed that the men placed a rope around his neck and threw bleach at him from a hot sauce bottle. Police seized bottles of bleach, a red hat, laptops and an Empire script from the home of the brothers.
On Thursday, Chicago media reported that police were investigating whether Smollett staged the attack. Chicago police officials said this was “unconfirmed,” adding that there was “no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed [Chicago Police Department] sources are uninformed and inaccurate.”
Chicago police confirmed Friday that the two men have a “relationship” with Smollett.
[Opinion: Jussie Smollett: I bet if I said my assailants were Muslim, you’d believe me]
