Brothers tell police 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett paid them to orchestrate and stage attack, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.
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The Latest: Chicago police release men held in Smollett caseCHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the attack on 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett (all times local): 9:25 p.m. Chicago police say they have released two Nigerian brothers who had been arrested earlier in the week on suspicion of assaulting 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett, saying that detectives have additional investigative work to complete. The men were picked up by police Wednesday at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport and their apartment was searched Thursday. They were questioned Friday but police were obliged to release them if they had not been charged within 48 hours. Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted: 'Due to new evidence as a result of today's interrogations, the individuals questioned by police in the Empire case have now been released without charges.' Smollett says he was assaulted on Jan. 29 by two men who shouted racial slurs and put a rope around his neck.
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The Latest: 2 questioned in Smollett attack now suspectsCHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on the attack on 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett (all times local): 9:55 a.m. Chicago Police say the two men being questioned in the attack on 'Empire' actor Jussie Smollett are considered suspects. Department spokesman Anthony Guglielimi said Friday that the men are in custody and have been arrested based on probable cause that they may have been involved in a crime. But he says they have not charged in the Jan. 29 attack. Police have identified the men only as two Nigerian brothers. Police have been questioning them since they were picked up by officers at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on Wednesday after returning to the city from Nigeria. On Thursday, police served a search warrant at their home. Guglielmi says at least one of the men worked on 'Empire,' but he does not know in what capacity. Smollett told ABC News in an interview that aired Thursday that the men are the ones who hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him, beat him and looped a rope around his neck.
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