Chicago police to release images after attack on 'Empire' actor

Reuters

Published Jan 30, 2019 09:32PM ET

Chicago police to release images after attack on 'Empire' actor

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Chicago police said on Wednesday they would soon release images of "persons of interest" in the assault of "Empire" actor Jussie Smollett in which two men yelled racial and homophobic slurs and wrapped a rope around his neck.

The 36-year-old African-American actor, who is gay, was not seriously hurt in the Tuesday incident, which police were treating as a possible hate crime.

The images came from a surveillance camera near the attack, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi tweeted.

The two men approached Smollett on the street in the early hours of Tuesday, yelling racial and homophobic slurs, then hit him in the face, poured an "unknown chemical substance" on him and wrapped a rope around his neck before fleeing, police said.

A representative for Smollett did not respond to requests for comment.