Jussie Smollett alleged attacker wants police to return red hat, ski mask
Police believe the disgraced actor paid two Nigerian brothers to help him stage a hate crime hoax against himself to boost his profile on 'Empire'.
One of the Nigerian brothers at the center of Jussie Smollett‘s alleged hate crime hoax wants Chicago police to return some of his personal items that were used in the infamous attack.
New legal documents filed by Abel Osundairo state that cops executed a search warrant at his home following the January 2019 incident with Smollett, and seized several items, including a black ski man and a red hat, TMZ reports.
The Empire star was reportedly physically assaulted by two masked men who hurled racist and homophobic slurs. They also doused him with bleach, tied a noose around his neck and yelled “MAGA country!”
READ MORE: Jussie Smollett is willing to ‘fight or die’ to be cleared of hoax charges
Police believe Smollett paid the brothers to help him stage the entire fiasco to boost his profile on the drama series.
Chicago police later released surveillance video showing Abel and his brother Ola Osundairo days before the “attack” buying gear that was allegedly used to stage the hate crime.
Abel and Ola Osundairo create new sketch
Cops say they traced the brothers, who worked with Smollett on Empire, back to footage that was taken in the Streeterville neighborhood of Chicago where the actor said he was attacked, theGrio previously reported.
“I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them. Never did,” Smollett said of the suspects in the video during an interview at the time with Good Morning America.
Charges against the Osundairo brothers were ultimately dropped. Now Able wants police to hand over all the items recovered from his home during the investigation, including an Empire script, 2 firearms, 2 iPhones and 5 bottles of bleach.
READ MORE: Jussie Smollett calls for domestic violence awareness during COVID-19
In the new legal docs, Abel’s lawyer, Gloria Schmidt, says her client has “been patient but has now been deprived of his personal property for over a year and there exists no good cause for any further delay in returning his items to him.”
Meanwhile, as Smollett’s felony case in Chicago is still underway, and a judge in the matter said returning the items could prejudice the proceedings. An earlier report on theGrio noted that Smollett is maintaining his innocence and says he is willing to “fight or die” to be cleared of allegations of an alleged hoax about a racist and homophobic attack.
In April, he plead not guilty to felony charges that he had lied to police last January about being the victim of potential hate crime. Moments after his arrival, the Osundairo brothers showed up at the courthouse with their legal counsel.
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