Officials: Jussie Smollett charged with disorderly conduct for filing false police report – History

CHICAGO (Fox 32 News / AP) – Chicago police say the "actor" of the Empire "Jussie Smollett has been accused of disorderly driving for filing a false police report when he was arrested. he said he was attacked by two masked men.

Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the Cook County attorney's office had approved the crime charge Monday afternoon. The charge is a clbad 4 crime punishable by imprisonment ranging from 1 to 3 years, but it could also be placed on probation.

The charges against Smollett were filed after two brothers who allegedly took part in the ploy testified before a grand jury.

SEE RELATED: Jussie Smollett could face 1 to 3 years in prison for allegedly filing a false police report

Smollett, who is black and gay and plays the Jamal Lyon in the famous Fox TV show, said the men had attacked him around 2 am on January 29, while he was returning home to walk from a Subway sandwich shop, downtown Chicago. He stated that they had beaten him, made racist and homophobic comments and shouted "This is a MAGA country" – an apparent reference to President Donald Trump's campaign slogan, " Make America Great Again "- before escaping from a rope and a rope.

The investigators watched hundreds of hours of private and public surveillance videos in the area where Smollett said he was attacked but failed to film the beating. They found and broadcast images of two people they said they wanted to interview. And last week, police recovered the two brothers at the Chicago O'Hare International Airport as they were returning from Nigeria and interrogated them about the attack. They also searched the men's apartment.

Abimbola "Abel" and Olabinjo "Ola" Osundairo, who identified several media outlets, were detained for nearly 48 hours because they were suspected of badaulting Smollett before being released on Friday. . On Saturday, police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said the men had provided information that "changed the trajectory of the investigation."

Smollett's lawyers said the actor was angry and "victimized" by reports that he could have played a role in the organization of the attack.

"Nothing is farther from the truth and anyone who claims otherwise is lying," Pugh and Henderson said in a statement Saturday.

Chicago's chief prosecutor, Cook County attorney Kim Foxx, is challenged Tuesday of the investigation, according to a statement issued by a spokeswoman.

"As a precaution, the decision to recuse itself was made to deal with possible issues of impartiality based on familiarity with potential witnesses in the case," said spokeswoman Tandra Simonton. She did not explain how Foxx was aware of anyone in the case and she stated that Foxx would not have any other comments. Foxx's first badistant, Joe Magats, will oversee the file, the office said.

Anita Alvarez, former prosecutor of Cook County, was shot Wednesday during the challenge of his successor, writes on his public Facebook page: "I might have had to simply remove myself from the difficult cases that occurred on my desk when I was a state attorney." I had the impression that, when the electors I had elected and that I had taken an oath, it meant that I had to do my job. "

Also on Tuesday, Nigeria's two brothers and their lawyers appeared before prosecutors and police at the Cook County Courthouse. The brothers and their lawyer were brought in and out of the building in the greatest secrecy – treatment rarely granted by prosecutors and generally reserved for celebrities as the time when Oprah Winfrey went there as a juror.

Meanwhile, federal investigators are still investigating the hate letter that was sent to Smollett in the "Empire" studios. This is an investigation separate from the one conducted by the Chicago Police. If the federal government finds out that Smollett has sent this letter well and that he can prove it, he could also face separate federal charges of the case that the Chicago police is in the process of to prepare.