Jussie Smollett: police in Chicago suspect Empire actor filed false report

Actor Jussie Smollett has been charged with making a false police report, a charge that could bring up to three years in prison.

The whispers about Jussie Smollett started with ­reports the Empire actor had not fully co-operated with police after telling authorities he was attacked in Chicago by two men who hurled racist, anti-gay slurs and looped a rope around his neck.

Then detectives in a city bristling with surveillance cameras could not find video of the beating.

But after reviewing hundreds of hours of surveillance footage, police arrested Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo late last week at O’Hare Airport as they returned from Nigeria. Police questioned the men and searched their apartment, but they were ­released after two days and authorities said they were no longer being treated as suspects.

Following three weeks of mounting suspicions, Smollett turned himself in late last night after he was earlier charged with making a false police report, a charge that could bring up to three years in prison and force the actor, who is black and gay, to pay for the cost of the investigation into his report of a January 29 beating.

Case Update: Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony). Detectives are currently presenting evidence before a Cook County Grand Jury. pic.twitter.com/FhDcbBKsuU

— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 20, 2019

Within three weeks, the 36-year-old has changed from being the seemingly sympathetic victim of a hate crime to being accused of fabricating the entire thing.

Police were trying last night to get in touch with Smollett’s ­lawyers to negotiate his surrender. ­Officers did not have a timeframe for how long the actor would be given.

“We are trying to be diplomatic and reasonable, and we’re hoping he does the same,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The charge emerged on the same day the ­Osundairo brothers testified before a grand jury.

Investigators have not said what the pair told detectives or what evidence they collected, but CBS TV network found surveillance footage of them buying gear used in the “attack”.

Ola and Abel Osundairo load up at the checkout counter with future evidence before allegedly participating in the ‘attack’ on Jussie Smollett. Picture: CBS

And at the weekend police announce­d a “significant shift in the trajectory” of the probe after their release and requested another­ interview with Smollett.

Smollett, who plays a gay character on the hit Fox television show, said he was attacked on ­January 29 as he was walking home from a downtown Subway joint. He said the masked men beat him, made derogatory comments and yelled “This is MAGA country” — a reference to Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again” — before fleeing.

Police said one of the brothers had appeared on Empire, and Smollett’s lawyers said one of the men is the actor’s personal trainer.

Their lawyer Gloria Schmidt said the brothers testified to the grand jury for about 2½ hours.

“There was a point where this story needed to be told, and they manned up and they said ‘we’re going to correct this’,” Ms Schmidt said. Her clients did not care about a plea deal or immunity. “You don’t need immunity when you have the truth,” she said

She also alleged her clients ­received money from Smollett.

Amid earlier reports that Smollett­’s role on Empire was being slashed, Fox issued a statement saying he “continues to be a consummate professional on set” and that his character was not being written off the show.

AP