Top Chicago Prosecutor Recuses Herself from Jussie Smollett Case
Chicago’s top prosecutor recused herself from the investigation into the attack reported by “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett shortly after police requested another interview with the actor.
The office of Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx offered few specifics Tuesday when announcing that Foxx was recusing herself from the case, which police said had “shifted” after detectives released two brothers who were initially deemed suspects.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the decision to recuse herself was made to address potential questions of impartiality based upon familiarity with potential witnesses in the case,” said Foxx spokeswoman Tandra Simonton, who wouldn’t specify how Foxx was familiar with anyone in the case. Simonton said Foxx would have no further comment.
Smollett has said two masked men hurled racial and homophobic slurs at him before beating him up early on Jan. 29. The actor, who is black and gay, said the men then looped a rope around his neck.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said last week that media reports about the attack being a hoax were unconfirmed by case detectives.
But on Saturday, police said the “investigation had shifted” following interviews with the brothers, who were identified to multiple media outlets by their attorney as Abimbola “Abel” and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo. The men were released from custody without charges and police later requested another interview with Smollett.
The Osundairos’ attorney, Gloria Schmidt, hasn’t responded to multiple requests for comment from The Associated Press.
Smollett’s lawyers have said the actor was angered and “victimized” by reports that he may have played a role in staging the attack.
“Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying,” attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor P. Henderson said in a statement Saturday.
Anne Kavanagh, a spokeswoman for Smollett’s lawyers, said they would “keep an active dialogue with Chicago police on his behalf.” She didn’t respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
A California misdemeanor complaint against Smollett in 2007 shows that he pleaded no contest to giving false information to police when he was pulled over for driving while under the influence.
Smollett was accused of identifying himself as his younger brother and signing a false name on the promise to appear in court, records show. He later was charged with false impersonation, driving under the influence and driving without a valid license. He pleaded no contest to a reduced charge and took an alcohol education and treatment program.
The details of the complaint were first reported by NBC News.
Smollett told police he was attacked in downtown Chicago while walking home from a Subway sandwich shop at around 2 a.m. He said in addition to the bigoted slurs, his attackers also shouted, “This is MAGA country,” an apparent reference to President Donald Trump’s campaign slogan, “Make America Great Again.” He also said they poured some kind of chemical on him.
Police looked through hours of video surveillance from the area but found no footage of an attack.
Investigators did find and release images of two people they said they wanted to question. And last week, police picked up the two brothers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport as they returned from Nigeria and questioned them about the attack. They also searched the apartment where the men live.
The men, who were held for nearly 48 hours on suspicion of assaulting Smollett, were released Friday. Guglielmi said the next day that information police received from the men “has in fact shifted the trajectory of the investigation.”
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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