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(Above) Area where the January 29 incident allegedly occurred, near the intersection of East North Water Street & North New Street in Streeterville. At above left is North Water Apartments. Lowes Chicago Hotel is next to it. According to a police report, Smollett says he was attacked on the red and gray pavers seen at lower left in this Google Street View. The utility pole at right with the yellow traffic sign also holds a police camera that captured images of two men, later questioned and released, seen in the area around the time of the alleged attack. 19-Feb-19 – A grand jury is weighing evidence in the Jussie Smollett case, according to CWB Chicago, trying to determine if federal charges should be filed against the television actor who claims he was the victim of a hate crime in Streeterville. The crime news website says a source involved with the investigation has told them the jury is looking into a threatening letter that was mailed to Smollett on January 18. The FBI and United States Postal Inspection Service have been trying to determine the origin of the letter. Federal charges await whoever sent the letter but if it was Smollett, he could face a felony charge of “terroristic hoax,” according to a partner in a Chicago law firm who did not want to be identified, as well as federal obstruction charges.
CWB Chicago says it has studied police records and determined Smollett is claiming the attack occurred on an open sidewalk near the intersection of North Water Street & New Street. Brothers Ola Osundairo and Abel Osundairo, seen in a surveillance image around the time of the alleged attack, who were questioned and released by Chicago police, have reportedly said that Smollett staged the incident because he was upset that the threatening letter did not get enough attention. The letter, covered in a white powder later determined to be crushed Tylenol, was addressed in a childish scrawl to Smollett at Cinespace Studios west of the Loop and mailed from a southwest suburb. “MAGA” was written in the upper left corner of the envelope.
Since 2015, Smollett has appeared in the Fox drama series Empire, playing a musician, Jamal Lyon. On Saturday, the Chief Communications Officer for Chicago Police Department said that information they learned from the Osundairos “shifted the trajectory of the investigation.” “We’ve reached out to the Empire cast member’s attorney to request a follow-up interview,” said Anthony Guglielmi. The multi-agency investigation is being led by the FBI’s Chicago office, but they will not get to talk directly to Smollett any further, according to his attorneys. A spokesperson for the attorneys, however, told The Associated Press they “will keep an active dialogue with Chicago police on his behalf.” Neighbor of supposed crime scene says she saw nothing CWB Chicago says they have talked to a witness who saw the area of the alleged attack, around the time Smollett claims it happened, and noticed nothing unusual. The unidentified woman lives in a building that overlooks the scene. She says she was returning home and saw three men standing on the corner where Smollett later claimed he was attacked. “All I saw was three guys talking,” she said. “I don’t think there was any problem because it looked like they knew each other.” |
