Neighbor spotted ‘redneck’ outside Jussie Smollett’s apartment building before attack

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There may be an eyewitness to the attack on Jussie Smollett after his neighbor claimed to have seen a man loitering outside of the actor’s apartment building, TMZ reports.

—EXCLUSIVE: Family of ‘Empire’ star Jussie Smollett issues statement—

The unnamed woman said a man she described a “redneck” was drifting around the building about 12:30 AM Tuesday. She said she took her dogs out for a walk and witnessed the man pacing between the parking garage and entrance, the entertainment news outlet reports.

He reportedly “looked out of place” and appeared agitated as he smoked a cigarette, she said. The woman described the man as a white male, “with scruff on his face wearing a blue winter beanie, a blue zip-up sweatshirt with a hood and blue jeans that were too short, exposing thick, grey hunting socks” with camel-colored dress shoes, the report said.  reports.

The man reportedly was wearing a rope or clothesline, which came from the bottom of his sweatshirt. Smollett reportedly was attacked and had a rope wrapped around his neck.

The woman claimed that the man was not alone and was staring at another man about 300 feet away. That man, she said was positioned near the entrance to the building.

She says she hurried back inside her building after five minutes because she got “creeped out” by the man’s presence.

The woman said she woke up around 4 a.m., and learned that Smollett was attacked as she headed to the gym. The concierge, she said, encouraged her to call the police to report what she witnessed and he gave her two phone numbers.

—Terrence Howard speaks out in support of Jussie Smollett after hateful attack—

Persons of Interest Sought

It looks like police are finally making progress in tracking down the people responsible for the racist, homophobic attack against Jussie Smollett. 

According to TMZ, investigators have captured multiple persons of interest on surveillance video and plan to release photos to the public in an effort to bring them in for questioning.

While they didn’t refer to the individuals as “suspects,” they plan to release the images soon.

The Empire actor and singer was brutally beaten by two men wearing ski masks in Chicago early Tuesday morning. They reportedly doused the openly gay actor with bleach and tied a noose around his neck while shouting “MAGA country.”

According to the reports, Smollett was walking out of Subway when someone yelled “Aren’t you that f***ot Empire n*****?” before attacking him.

According to That Grape Juice, Fox Studios received hate mail earlier this month targeted to the 36-year-old actor. Cut out letters from magazines spelled out “You will die black f**.”

It’s funny how suspicious white men don’t get the cops called on them for loitering like Black folks. But let’s hope the nosey neighbor’s account results in an arrest.