Brothers questioned in Jussie Smollett attack no longer suspects, police say

[brooklynite]

Source: CNN

The brothers arrested and released in connection with the attack on actor Jussie Smollett are no longer suspects at this time, Chicago police said Monday.

The men -- who attorney Gloria Schmidt identified as Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo -- were arrested Wednesday but released without charges Friday after Chicago police cited the discovery of "new evidence."

In a joint statement issued to CNN affiliate WBBM, the men said: "We are not racist. We are not homophobic, and we are not anti-Trump. We were born and raised in Chicago and are American citizens."

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/18/entertainment/jussie-smollett-attack/index.html

[apnu]

1. Why do this?

Stuff like this sets us all backwards.

[PoliticAverse]

4. The usual reason is hoaxes of this type is for the "victim" to get attention/publicity. n/t

Last edited Tue Feb 19, 2019, 07:29 PM - Edit history (1)

[ScratchCat]

2. Why were they arrested in the first place?

What information was presented to police that gave them probable cause that these two brothers had committed a crime?

[PoliticAverse]

3. The through investigation apparently correctly led police to find that the brothers were involved...

but it appears to have been a setup by Smollett not a crime.

See this story:
https://abc7.com/brothers-tell-police-that-jussie-smollett-paid-them-to-stage-attack-official-says-/5141900/

[AKing]

5. The brothers were seen on a security camera and police identified them by...

tracking them through ride sharing service. Tremendous waste of police resources considering all the murders here that go unsolved. Smollet needs to be charged with a crime and do some jail time,IMO.

[jberryhill]

7. Because Smollet pointed them out in a video of the area...

...and said he was certain they were the attackers.

And then police worked backward from cell-tower data and ride sharing services to find that two people associated with Smollet were in the area, and were the people in the video which Smollet said he was certain included the attackers.

[AKing]

6. Detectives hope to meet with Jussie Smollett as new information released in case

https://wgntv.com/2019/02/19/detectives-hope-to-meet-with-jussie-smollett-as-new-information-released-in-case/

CHICAGO — New information is being released in the investigation of an alleged attack against “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett.

TMZ reports the two brothers, who were once suspects, admit to rehearsing the altercation between them and Smollett. TMZ also reports the case could be headed to a grand jury as early as Tuesday, for an indictment against the actor for filing a fake police report.

Chicago police tell WGN, they expect to meet again with Smollett and his attorneys sometime Tuesday or Wednesday....