UPDATED: Chicago PD investigating whether Smollett staged the attack

Chicago PD released a statement Friday to clarify the ongoing investigation into an unconvincing alleged hate crime attack on Jussie Smollett, an actor and singer currently on the series "Empire."

The two men who were taken in for questioning on Wednesday night, police say, are now considered "potential suspects," while Smollett "continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect," saying such things to the actor as: 'there, there, it's going to be okay,' and 'turn that frown upside-down, Jussie.'

"Interrogations will resume today with the two individuals and their attorney," Chicago Police Department chief spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement emailed to CBS Chicago Friday morning:

"While we haven’t found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is also no evidence to say that this is a hoax. The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect. For clarification, the two individuals interviewed are classified as potential suspects. Detectives have probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime and we are working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline as our investigation continues."

The statement comes amid a series of rapidly changing and at times conflicting reports from local Chicago news outlets. On Thursday, multiple outlets, including The Chicago Tribune, reported that police confirmed that on Wednesday night they detained two "persons of interest" at O'Hare International Airport.

The attorney representing the two potential suspects — whom CBS Chicago says are brothers from Nigeria and worked with Smollett on "Empire" — told the outlet that they have been in custody at Area Central detective headquarters since they were detained Wednesday night at Customs at O'Hare after returning from a trip to Nigeria.

“When they first learned about what happened to him they were horrified," Schimdt told CBS. "This is someone they know. This is someone they’ve worked with, so they don’t want to see somebody go through that."

CBS reports that the two men allegedly left town hours after the reported attack on Smollet on Jan. 29.

Smollett claims the men assaulted him, calling him "n**ger" and "f**got" and throwing an unknown chemical at him (believed to be bleach). He also says they put a rope around his neck and yelled, "This is MAGA country!"

Smollett kept the rope around his neck for 40 minutes or so before calling police, and luckily, he did not lose the Subway sandwich he was holding during the attack, which was very kind of his alleged assaulters and haters. The nature of the sandwich [i.e., whether it was meat or vegan] is unknown, but it must have been quite delicious to hang onto it and not lose it during the alleged attack.

Now it has been learned that the alleged hate crime against Smollett has taken a hard turn to the right amid multiple reports that Chicago PD are investigating whether Smollett and the two persons of interest "staged the attack." It was discovered that one of the people of interest reportedly worked with the actor on "Empire."

"Multiple sources have told ABC7 Eyewitness News that police are investigating whether Smollett and the two men staged the attack allegedly because Smollett was being written off of 'Empire,'" ABC7 reported Thursday evening.

"Police are investigating whether the two individuals committed the attack — or whether the attack happened at all," Chicago police told ABC, the outlet reported in an update to its original report. Citing a source familiar with the investigation, ABC says that Smollett also "failed to appear for an interview with detectives earlier Thursday, but has since spoken with police."

Something smells fishy. Very smelly. Very fishy.

CBS Chicago additionally reported that sources say police are investigating whether the alleged attack was "potentially staged" by the "non-cooperating" persons of interest and the actor.

CBS Chicago reports:

"Investigators believe Jussie Smollett and the non-cooperating witnesses in the alleged attack of Smollett last month 'potentially staged the attack,' sources tell CBS 2 Investigator Brad Edwards." 

According to ABC, law enforcement officials say the homes of the two persons of interest were raided Wednesday night, noting that officials "removed shoes, electronic devices and other items they believe could help them determine if the two people played any role in the assault from those homes."

The outlet stresses that Chicago police [worried about being labeled 'racists'] told them they "cannot confirm any of those reports" and that no charges have been filed. In an update posted Thursday night, ABC reports that Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson contacted the outlet to clarify that the department is "continuing to treat Smollett as a victim and the investigation remains ongoing."

Thursday evening, CBS Chicago's Charlie De Mar quoted a "top source" as saying, "We [investigators] believe the non-cooperating 2 witnesses are co-conspirators in a potentially staged attack" (post below).

"The brothers were returning from a trip to Nigeria, their attorney said," De Mar said in a follow-up report. "As they were picked up by police at O’Hare, officers were at their home, taking several items and leaving behind an inventory list of some of the items taken. The list includes a black face mask hat, an Empire script, a phone, receipts, a red hat and bleach."

There are about 30,000 surveillance cameras throughout the city of Chicago, but by the end of the first week of the investigation, police revealed that all available surveillance footage failed to show the attack. One piece of evidence emerged: a grainy image of two men dressed in dark clothing that Smollett said in an interview with "Good Morning America" Thursday were the two men.

Using the surveillance photos and, according to TMZ, "rideshare and/or taxicab records," police say they were able to identify the two persons of interest and track them the night of the alleged attack. Turns out the two men know Smollett and are not white, but are black.

If it's true that Smollett staged the attack, it should prove to a large degree that in order to prove rampant racism in America, the left has to manufacture it. America is the least racist country on the planet.

I hope you'll follow Brain Flushings and have a few laughs while you get a conservative viewpoint. Politics is the new NFL without the mindless kneeling and this blog will both inform you and hopefully entertain you bigly.

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