As the case continues to develop in the attack against Jussie Smollett, Chicago police on Saturday said the two Nigerian brothers, Ola and Abel Osundairo are the men in the surveillance video, according to Page Six.
This report comes just a day after the Chicago Police Department announced on Friday evening that though the brothers originally suspected were released after questioning.
“Yes, they are confirmed to be the men on scene by surveillance video,” Chicago Police said in a statement to ABC7 Chicago. “The reason why they were there is now central to the investigation and we can’t get into that at this time.”
—Jussie Smollett Case: Nigerian brothers released without charge while police evaluate new evidence—
Cops say they traced the brothers, who worked with Smollett on Empire back to footage that was taken the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago where the actor said he was attacked.
On Friday, a spokesperson from the Chicago Police Department said they could not provide details of new information, but it “shifted the trajectory” of the information.
Anthony Guglielmi, Chicago police spokesman released a statement that said: “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 charging and detectives have additional investigative work to complete.”
The Empire star had previously said he was positive that the people in the surveillance video were his attackers.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did,” he said on Thursday on Good Morning America.
—Prince estate creates a Twitter account to honor the late artist—
On Saturday, TMZ reported that cast and crew of Empire said the two men do not even fit the profile of racists and homophobes.
TMZ’s Empire sources also say that specifically, Abel is an ally of the LGBTQ community brothers never said positive comments about Trump. They also revealed that they were Obama fans.
It was originally reported that the two suspects were white.
This is information is the latest news regarding the racist and homophobic attack against the singer and actor that occurred on Jan. 29.
Here are the two Nigerian brothers Olabinjo Osundairo and Abimbola Osundairo who are at the center of the LGBT incident that happened in Chicago involving Jussie Smollett pic.twitter.com/iXzvk5Fcbu
— Tariq Nasheed ?? (@tariqnasheed) February 15, 2019