New reports suggest a possible development in the ongoing investigation of the attack on actor Jussie Smollett.
Investigators are now considering a possible link between threatening mail sent to the actor, and his violent assault on the night of January 29. At least one letter sent to Smollett referred to him as a “black f*g” just days before the attack.
The Empire star and out-gay actor landed in the hospital following an attack on the streets of Chicago. Unknown assailants assaulted Smollett, shouting racist and homophobic slurs, dousing the actor in corrosive chemicals, beating him and tying a noose around his neck. Smollett spent time in the hospital before returning to work on the Empire set.
Related: 6 powerful takes on the attack on Jussie Smollett
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According to reports, the FBI has coordinated with a private security firm hired to screen mail sent to the cast of the show, which has a history of receiving threatening letters. Police also are currently analyzing camera footage taken in the area of the attack in hopes of identifying a suspect.
Law enforcement is also investigating the attack as a possible hate crime.
Bob LaBlah
Ok, so is he going to release his phone text messages or not? Sorry for the harsh tone dear but some of your story sounds too suspect to not be questioned further.
BShade77
piss off. he was attacked.
Bob LaBlah
B, my dear, I have NO doubt that he was attacked. What I do believe is that this was a hookup gone wrong. What other reason can there be as to why he won’t let the F.B.I. take a look at his phone other than he has something he would rather not have known publicly and if it were it would be damning to his side of the story. You must remember that he claimed he was on the phone with Lee Daniels at the time of the assault. Ok, if that the case then whats the problem in letting them verify that? They have to place where he was and with whom and like it or not that statement does involve someone else who claims to have “heard” the attack. Now do you see why the way he and Lee are acting that make things sound not quite right in his version of what happened? It wouldn’t shock me to learn if both the CPD and the FBI have only one person each working on this case because of that.
Brian
If it was a hookup gone wrong, how do you explain the letter that showed up at the studio a week earlier? There must be some sort of connection there.
Bob LaBlah
@Brian……….Its to be my understanding that ALL cast members have received hate mail on a regular basis. Even young Hakeem Lyons. And by the way, that season that ended where Jussie was shot was suppose to have been his last season on the show and he wasn’t happy about being written out of the show. It was determined his character was weighing the show down.
Brian
He didn’t just get hate mail, he got a letter touting MAGA, then claimed a week later to have been attacked by a MAGA shouting person. There’s no way it’s just a weird coincidence.
And if it was a trick gone bad, why would he report it to the police, but then make up a completely different story? It’s not like he was brutally beaten to the point where he needed some sort of explanation. He had a single, tiny scratch on his face, nobody would have thought twice about it if he said it was something like it was from playing with a dog or bumping into something. There would be absolutely no reason to make up a cover story and file any sort of police report for a tiny boo boo.
Godabed
He is cooperating with authorities outside of that, he doesn’t need to show you or anyone else anything.
If it wasn’t a viable case the FBI would simply dismiss it. but that didn’t happen. And his network, and the police department confirmed there were threats against his life. So like the other gentleman said “piss off”.
Brian
I just saw the first article suggesting that he might be lying, and it was from The Source, of all places. Queerty won’t let me post the link, but I’m sure it’s easy enough to find.
Bob LaBlah
Brian, it wasn’t Jussie who called the police. It was a friend who was at the apartment that called the police.
BShade, he was attacked. But WHY was he attacked? It seems inconceivable TWO assailants could disappear like a fart in the wind in an area where MULTIPLE surveillance cameras cover entire blocks. Your response is typical of certain types when they know they are cornered and out of excuses.
Juanjo
BobSF – the motivation for the attack in terms of whether it was something casual like walking back from getting something to eat vs a grindr hook-up makes no difference on the criminality of the action.
Bob LaBlah
Janjo, I don’t recall saying it did. And what’s the SF for in your comment aimed at me?
Chrisk
Yes and the NYPD also has video surveillance of him walking back to his building with a rope around his neck. I think that’s way more interesting then some BS hate mail.
Chrisk
Chicago PD that is..
Bob LaBlah
You know Chris, between me and you I think I would have taken that rope from around my neck regardless of how bad I was beat up. Think about it for a minute. There is a WHOLE lot to this that doesn’t make sense. Walking a block or two with a rope around your neck? Oh really!
Brian
That’s the part I can’t wait to hear what the police have to say about it. They have footage of most of the time that he was out, at some point the rope appeared around his neck, there is no footage of him being attacked or even encountering anyone that matches the description he gave of the attackers. So where did it come from, and how much time is missing between the footage without it and the footage with it?
Godabed
If you are just raped, you don’t take a shower after, it destroys evidence. In this instance with the rope the same logic would apply, there could be DNA there that will help authorities find these people, since cameras can’t.
Black Pegasus
So here we are at two full weeks and there is nothing new to report on this “alleged attack.” I’m starting to smell bullshtt and it’s not coming from my top lip.
Brian
It took you two weeks to start smelling it?
Kangol
@Black Pegasus, since people claimed that local media had updates, I decided to check them. Here’s what the Chicago Tribune, a major reputable news source, is reporting as of February 8 (I can’t link it but you can search for it):
— cops are still looking for the two “persons of interest” (they have not found two “black” homeless guys, as someone claimed);
— the threatening letter was mailed a week before the attack from a southwestern suburb of Chicago;
— cops have stretches of Smollett’s walk in the area but not all of it;
— Smollett has declined to hand over his phone so far, but phone records of course are easily searchable.
Meanwhile, News 5 Chicago reports that Smollett was off video long enough for an attack of the kind he described to have occurred. A Chicago PD spokesperson also admitted that cameras cannot capture everything, since a number in that area rotate and don’t capture a continuous focused feed. There is a Fox32 reporter who is tweeting about info he supposedly has gotten from “police sources,” and a right-wing site also posted about the rope info, but none of this is verified by police spokespeople or reputable news orgs. Maybe it will be, maybe not. But let’s see what pans out.
Bob LaBlah
Kangol, your pro Jussie accusation news flash needs some updating. The two homeless guys were found and questioned and that was the end of it. Do you work for Queerty?
Chrisk
Kangal will never be convinced no matter how much evidence to the contrary. Just like many still believe OJ is innocent.
Kangol
@Bob, I listed what I saw on reputable sources. I see that Free Republic, a far-right site, as well as YouTube (where anyone can post anything), Reddit, etc. are reporting that the men were homeless, but is this on a reputable news site? Just asking. If that was reported by a real news source, I stand corrected.
BCbreeze
This is a bunch of BS.
truthseeker
Since Queerty and most of the media have a media blackout of the newest facts of the case, I suggest people follow local Chicago reporters on Twitter for real updates such as the Twitter users @RobElgasABC7 and @RaferWeigel
But the latest facts of the case are:
> Jussie is seen in hundreds of hours of footage
> No attack is seen on tape
> Jussie is only not seen for 60 seconds
> The 2 persons of interest were questioned and are two homeless black guys who had nothing to do with it
> Jussie had a Subway hoagie in his hands during the ENTIRE walk home
> Jussie initially refused to report the incident until an hour after it happened and a man named Frank Gatson (who was in Jussie’s apartment) called the police instead
> Jussie never broke any ribs
> The CPD are handling this case while the FBI handles the letter
> Jussie told police only 1 man had a mask on but he can’t remember any facial features or what directions they ran away in
> The mysterious “redneck” was a false lead
> The thin rope around Jussie’s neck was recently purchased because of how new it looked and CPD have pinpointed which stores it may have been bought at
> New surveillance footage was discovered yesterday which is rumored to fill in the gap of those missing 60 seconds
valentino888
In these alleged hundreds of hours of footage, does it show when his face went from normal to beat up and when there was suddenly rope abound his neck?
Vince
@valentino888. I don’t think a scratch on the face counts as “beat up”.
Brian
If they’re truly only missing 60 seconds, then it’s obviously going to show when the rope appeared around his neck. That little scratch on his face could easily have been there the entire time, security footage in the middle of the night is unlikely to be that detailed.
truthseeker
@valentino
The hundreds of hours of footage is not “alleged”, the source on that statement is the Chicago PD. They have not specified when his face went from ‘normal’ to having a scratch on his cheek bone.
They did state that he wasn’t treated for any injuries and just had a doctor look at him.
They did not state when the rope first appeared. However, they described the rope as a very thin piece of clothesline that was draped over his shoulders. They said it was not tied around his neck but over his shoulders and he wore it while walking down the street, wore it while entering a building and passed several security guards as well as other people, before finally entering his apartment. Then, 45 minutes later, the elderly man who was in his apartment called the police to report the incident and was still wearing it when police arrived.