IL - Actor Jussie Smollett allegedly attacked in hate crime being black & gay Jan 2019 *ARRESTS*

[CrimeDawg123]

I see both receipt empire and towards the top script empire.

Oh right, gotcha! Got distracted by the guns

 

[bears10]

why?

Well for one, one of their extras houses was raided in connection with an alleged hate crime against a cast member.

 

[CrimeDawg123]

why?

Because that's what they do.

 

[TTF14]

Can one of you smart WSleuthers explain why specifically Lyft records would be looked at? I am missing the connection on that.

Thx.

If the attackers were tracked, on video surveillance, walking/running down the street, down a couple streets, whatever, and getting into a waiting car, CPD may have looked into Uber and Lyft (and any other ride share companies) to see if they picked someone up at that place and time. And then they would find out whose account it was that was used. That may be how they figured out who these two guys are.

 

[TTF14]

why?

Empire airs on the Fox network.

 

[Poppyflower]

oooh the show is on fox. I need sleep lol

 

[tara83]

One thing that puzzles me is that in the interview Jussie said that doubters might have believed him if he said his attackers were Mexican or black.So did he tell police his attackers were white because he said the men in the video were his attackers and it appears the two men are both black.I'm so confused.

 

[MassGuy]

If the attackers were tracked, on video surveillance, walking/running down the street, down a couple streets, whatever, and getting into a waiting car, CPD may have looked into Uber and Lyft (and any other ride share companies) to see if they picked someone up at that place and time. And then they would find out whose account it was that was used. That may be how they figured out who these two guys are.

I think that’s exactly what they did.

They seem positive that the two men on that video, were these particular men.

The question at this point, is if those two men perpetrated this.

 

[MyBelle]

Oh dear.
ABC7Chicago better not have jumped the gun on this.
Hope their sources are solid even if CPD not ready to confirm yet.
Yikes!

ABC must be confident of their LE sources. A lot of LE resources were focused on investigating this case. I didn't believe it for several reasons: Chicago's culture embraces diversity; the extremely and unusually cold temps that day had a good Samaritan renting hotel rooms for the homeless and the attempt to politicize it by throwing "MAGA" into the mix.

the show says he wasnt being written out, the police say they still consider him a victim and have nothing to support the allegation that smollett himself was involved in staging the attack.

this could be a case of the rumor mill slipping into MSM, but there were many supposed sources confirming the rumors... weird.

it is still entirely possible that a grudge developed between smollet and one or both of these men, and they then decided to scare the heck out of him before they were set to leave the country. still entirely possible the attack went down as smollett originally claimed, i realize his story has evolved but that is not uncommon at all for victims as any regular reader here should know.

we just had the case of the girl that was killed in a drive-by, everyone accused the mother of all sorts of awful things and in the end the police clearly stated that they consider her nothing but an innocent victim and that they do not believe she tried to mislead them in any way.

The attack may have gone down as Smollett claimed. He may not have been the one who hired the "attack" or told about it in advance. I think someone he employs may be behind it.

JMO

 

[monkey222]

Do we know where the brothers house is in relation to the reported crime?

 

[MassGuy]

One thing that puzzles me is that in the interview Jussie said that doubters might have believed him if he said his attackers were Mexican or black.So did he tell police his attackers were white because he said the men in the video were his attackers and it appears the two men are both black.I'm so confused.

That’s the confusing part, and the reason I suspect this to be a hoax.

He said that his attackers were white, but these particular men are black.

Could he reasonably have made a mistake as to their race?

I think that’s doubtful, especially because the description of their skin color was coupled with racist statements.

 

[SharonNeedles]

That’s the confusing part, and the reason I suspect this to be a hoax.

He said that his attackers were white, but these particular men are black.

Could he reasonably have made a mistake as to their race?

I think that’s doubtful, especially because the description of their skin color was coupled with racist statements.

Do we know these men are black?

 

[MassGuy]

Do we know these men are black?

Good point, I’m not sure that has been confirmed by a reputable source.

 

[Sillybilly]

From Chicago Police Department Chief Communications Officer at 4:30 pm, Feb 14

Media reports anout the Empire incident being a hoax are unconfirmed by case detectives. Supt Eddie Johnson has contacted @ABC7Chicago to state on the record that we have no evidence to support their reporting and their supposed CPD sources are uninformed and inaccurate.

Once again, Jussie Smollett is a victim unless/until CPD says he isn't.

Posts that continue to victim blame will be removed and authors of such posts will receive a minimum 1 week thread reply ban.

 

[Axiom88]

Good point, I’m not sure that has been confirmed by a reputable source.

Chicago police questioning ‘persons of interest’ in alleged attack on Jussie Smollett

"Chicago police said the two men were picked upon their arrival at O’Hare International Airport Thursday. Both of them are African American, and at least one of them has a connection to the “Empire” actor."

Unless, of course, they are using "African American" to just mean some white guy from Africa. Which would be a really weird use of it.

 

[TTF14]

I think that’s exactly what they did.

They seem positive that the two men on that video, were these particular men.

The question at this point, is if those two men perpetrated this.

Taking Lyft to a hate crime (or any crime) would be UBER stupid.

 

[Tricia]

We are going to shut this down for the night. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Thank you,
Tricia

 

[Tricia]

OK We are back open. Please remember our terms of service

 

[Tricia]

Arrests have been made
Cops arrest 2 men in reported attack on 'Empire' star Jussie Smollett

 

[drjones]

^ “The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect,” he said."