Actor Jussie Smollett was arrested early Thursday morning and charged with felony disorderly conduct for filing a false police report claiming that he was a victim of a hate crime.
“Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives,” chief communications officer of Chicago Police Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement Thursday morning.
Superintendent of the Chicago Police Department Eddie Johnson and Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will hold a press briefing on the arrest at 9:00 a.m. before Smollett appears in court.
Press Briefing: Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives. At 9am at #ChicagoPolice Headquarters, Supt Eddie Johnson, Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will brief reporters on the investigation prior to the defendants appearance in court. pic.twitter.com/9PSv8Ojec2
— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019
[Related: Jussie Smollett lied to police during DUI stop in 2007]
Wednesday night, police said felony charges were approved and that detectives would make contact with Smollett to negotiate a surrender for his arrest.
Smollett, who is black and gay, claimed last month that his two masked attackers beat him, put a rope around his neck poured bleach on him, and yelled racist and homophobic comments at him. He also alleged that his attackers said, “This is MAGA country,” referencing President Trump’s 2016 campaign slogan “Make America Great Again.”
After a month of investigating the crime, Chicago police now believe that the alleged hate crime was orchestrated by Smollett.
One of the brothers who allegedly carried out the attack worked on the show “Empire” with Smollett.
Reports emerged over the weekend that Smollett paid Abimbola ‘Abel’ Osundairo and Olabinjo ‘Ola’ Osundairo, who are Nigerian citizens, to carry out the attack.
“We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens,” the brothers said in a statement Monday, released by their lawyer Gloria Schmidt.
Smollett could face more than a decade in prison.
