() met with former Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson, who shared never-before-heard details of the Jussie Smollett scandal that rocked the city and pop culture world.
Johnson received news of an alleged racist and homophobic attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett during a 4 a.m. phone call from his department’s news director.
But with dozens of detectives working on the case in 2019, how Smollett interacted with investigators at the time created doubt in his mind about the allegations the actor was making. Smollett insisted that after leaving a Subway restaurant near his downtown Chicago apartment, he was jumped by two men wearing MAGA baseball caps.
Smollett said that the two men put a noose around his neck and poured bleach on him while using racial and homophobic slurs as they attacked him.
But Johnson said that in reviewing surveillance footage taken from the security cameras in Smollett’s building, little details jumped out at him.
“What struck me as really strange is when I looked at the video of him turning around, I saw the Subway sandwich bag in pristine condition,” Johnson said. “If you are attacked violently like that, are you going to be worried about your sandwich? Probably not. I mean, most people would not.”
Other clues also jumped out to Johnson, who by 2019 had already worked as a police officer in Chicago for more than 30 years. When investigators first met with Smollett in his apartment, the actor was still wearing the noose that he claimed had been placed around his neck by his attackers.
Smollett told officers at the time that he had left it in place so that investigators could see it for themselves. But like other details in Smollett’s case, the fact that the actor had left the noose on didn’t seem right to Johnson.
“One thing I know about victims of crimes like that, once they get free, especially if you have a noose around your neck or anything that’s out there, they’re going to leave because they’re looking for the police,” Johnson said.
In addition to the way Smollett appeared to investigators, Johnson also claims that the actor got “antsy” with detectives when asked for his cell phone. Smollett was slow to hand over his phone, citing his privacy and the numbers of fellow celebrities that were stored on the device. Instead, Smollett offered a heavily redacted copy of a cell phone bill, which again gave investigators pause.
Ben Bradley, a WGN TV investigative reporter, said Smollett’s story fell apart for him when he received a tip that the two men who allegedly attacked the actor were Black. At the same time, however, Johnson said Chicago Police detectives were questioning the two men who were in the area of the attack and who were seen in surveillance footage.
“The video told the story,” said Johnson, who stepped down from his role with the Chicago Police Department in 2019.
He added: “I had a big grin on my face (because) I knew at that point, we could get to the bottom of it.”
Investigators used the surveillance footage to determine that the timeline of the supposed attack matched that which investigators had put together themselves. In addition, unbeknownst to Smollett, police had already identified the brothers they believed were involved in the actor’s alleged plot to mislead police.
Johnson said as the investigation continued, Smollett inadvertently identified the two men police had put out as those who had reportedly attacked the actor.
Johnson also said that police had video of the brothers collecting items they needed as part of the hoax, including the red MAGA baseball caps Smollett told police his attackers wore. It wasn’t long, Johnson said, before the two brothers confessed to being involved.
“Those three things in conjunction with each other it was a no-brainer at that point,” Johnson said.
