Jussie Smollett has been hospitalized in Chicago after a possible homophobic and racially charged attack, ET can confirm.
According to the Chicago Police Department's incident details, a 30-something man was walking when two unknown offenders approached him and gained his attention by yelling out racial and homophobic slurs towards him. Police say the offenders allegedly began to attack the victim with their hands about the face and poured an unknown chemical substance onto the victim.
At some point during the alleged incident, one of the offenders wrapped a rope around the victim's neck. According to police, the offenders then fled the scene, and the victim was self-transported to Northwestern Hospital. He is in good condition, and Area Central Detectives are investigating.
Chicago Police Department spokesperson Anthony Gugliemli sent out a statement to ET on Tuesday reading: "Overnight, the Chicago Police Department received a report of a possible racially-charged assault and battery involving a cast member of the television show Empire. Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime. Detectives are currently working to gather video, identify potential witnesses and establish an investigative timeline. The victim is fully cooperating with investigators and we ask anyone with information about this incident to contact Area Central Detectives at 312-747-8382 or report it anonymously to www.cpdtip.com."
According to the Chicago Police Department's incident details, a 30-something man was walking when two unknown offenders approached him and gained his attention by yelling out racial and homophobic slurs towards him. Police say the offenders allegedly began to attack the victim with their hands about the face and poured an unknown chemical substance onto the victim.
At some point during the alleged incident, one of the offenders wrapped a rope around the victim's neck. According to police, the offenders then fled the scene, and the victim was self-transported to Northwestern Hospital. He is in good condition, and Area Central Detectives are investigating.
Chicago Police Department spokesperson Anthony Gugliemli sent out a statement to ET on Tuesday reading: "Overnight, the Chicago Police Department received a report of a possible racially-charged assault and battery involving a cast member of the television show Empire. Given the severity of the allegations, we are taking this investigation very seriously and treating it as a possible hate crime. Detectives are currently working to gather video, identify potential witnesses and establish an investigative timeline. The victim is fully cooperating with investigators and we ask anyone with information about this incident to contact Area Central Detectives at 312-747-8382 or report it anonymously to www.cpdtip.com."
