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Update 2/15/19 2:09 p.m.
Two men have been arrested for battery in the alleged attack on Jussie Smollett, TMZ reports. Officers have identified Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo as “potential suspects” in the investigation. Both men, who are brothers, have appeared on the Fox show Empire, on which Smollett stars, as extras, and are reportedly from Nigeria.
According to the report, the Osundairos’ house was raided on Wednesday, and cops found bottles of bleach, which was reported as a possible liquid used in the attack.
Police had released surveillance video showing two silhouetted figures in the area where the attack occurred on Jan. 29.
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Chicago police have identified two Nigerian brothers as persons of interest in the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett last month, according to NBC News.
Officials said Thursday that the two men are affiliated with the show Empire, in which Smollett works, and were detained when they arrived to O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday.
“These individuals are not yet suspects but were in area of
concern and are being questioned,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said
on Twitter.
Smollett said Jan. 29 that two men attacked him after he picked up food and that they hurled homophobic and racist slurs at him, poured a liquid on him that may have been bleach and placed a rope around his neck. Police are investigating the alleged attack as a hate crime.
The Empire star appeared on Good Morning America Thursday and expressed anger over the attack and against people who doubt his story. He also told Robin Roberts he is “forever changed” by the incident and he fears that his attackers won’t be brought to justice.
“I was talking to a friend and I said, ‘I just want them to find them.’ And she said, ‘Sweetie, they’re not going to find them,’” Smollett said. “That just made me so angry. So I’m just going to be left here like this? I’m just going to be left here? They get to go free, go about their life and possibly attack someone else. And I’m here left with the aftermath? That’s not cool to me. That’s not OK.”
Law enforcement officials say Smollett has been cooperative throughout the investigation.
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