Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett does not represent the city’s values after he was arrested early Thursday morning on suspicion of filing a false report about a hate crime.
The actor, who is black and gay, alleges two men attacked him Jan. 29 in Chicago, yelled racist and homophobic slurs at him, tied a noose around his neck, and poured bleach on him.
The two men, brothers Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo, were taken into custody and questioned by police about the alleged attack. Police said Thursday the brothers told them that Smollett orchestrated the attack because he was unhappy with his “Empire” salary.
“All across Chicago, in every neighborhood, there are signs in front yards and windows that read, ‘Hate Has No Home Here.’ It is a sign that expresses our shared values and defines our great city,” Emanuel said in a statement. “Our laws exist to reflect and defend those values, and hate crimes will never be tolerated.”
“A single individual who put their perceived self-interest ahead of these shared principles will never trump Chicago’s collective spirit,” he said.
Filing a false police report is punishable by up to three years in prison under Illinois law. Smollett is currently in jail awaiting a 1:30 p.m. bond hearing.
“Absolute justice would be an apology to this city that he smeared, admitting what he did, and then being man enough to offer what he should offer up in terms of all the resources that were put into this,” Chicago police chief Eddie Johnson said.
