Jussie Smollett arrested in Chicago on felony criminal charges

He was charged with filling a false police report where he claimed he was attacked and beaten by two masked men shouting racist and homophobic slurs.

The 36-year-old openly gay actor on the hip-hop TV drama, Empire, is under arrest and in custody of detectives, Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department says on Twitter on Thursday.

Press Briefing: Jussie Smollet is under arrest and in custody of detectives. At 9am at #ChicagoPolice Headquarters, Supt Eddie Johnson, Commander of Area Central Detectives Edward Wodnicki will brief reporters on the investigation prior to the defendants appearance in court. pic.twitter.com/9PSv8Ojec2

— Anthony Guglielmi (@AJGuglielmi) February 21, 2019

The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved felony criminal charges against Smollett for disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.

Jussie Smollett ignited a firestorm on social media by telling police on 29th January that two apparent supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump hurled racial and homophobic insults at him, punched him, poured a chemical substance over him and put a rope around his neck.

“This is Maga country,” he had claimed they told him, referring to President Donald Trump’s Make America Great Again slogan.