Family of the «Empire» actor who says he was attacked by men yelling racial and homophobic slurs says his story hasn’t changed
Chicago — The family of «Empire» actor Jussie Smollett has released a statement saying the actor was the victim of a «racial and homophobic hate crime» and pushing back against any suggestion that he was anything but truthful with the police.
Detectives have recovered more surveillance footage of Smollett walking in downtown Chicago before and after he says he was attacked by two masked men, including video of him arriving home with a rope around his neck, but they’re still searching for any footage of the attack, a police spokesman said Thursday.
Smollett, who is black and gay and plays the gay character Jamal Lyon on the hit Fox television show, said the men beat him, subjected him to racist and homophobic insults, threw an «unknown chemical substance» on him and put a thin rope around his neck before fleeing.
He returned to his apartment afterward and his manager called police from there about 40 minutes later, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. When officers arrived, the actor had cuts and scrapes on his face and the rope around his neck. Smollett later went to a hospital for treatment.
«In the early hours of Tuesday morning, our beloved son and brother, Jussie, was the victim of a violent and unprovoked attack. We want to be clear, this was a racial and homophobic hate crime,» the family statement said. «Jussie has told the police everything from the very beginning. His story has never changed, and we are hopeful they will find these men and bring them to justice.»
The statement goes on to condemn hate crimes «happening to our sisters, brothers and our gender non-conforming siblings, many who reside within the intersection of multiple identities, on a monthly, weekly, and sometimes even daily basis all across our country.
