The circumstances surrounding the attack of Empire TV star Jussie Smollett keep getting more suspicious.
On Tuesday Chicago police superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters the Chicago Police Department will pursue a legal case against Smollett if he filed a false police report.
Smollett was purportedly attacked while walking home from a Subway sandwich shop in downtown Chicago late at night during the recent polar vortex.
Smollett claims two men targeted him with racial and homophobic slurs before tossing a rope around his neck and possibly pouring bleach on him.
Smollett claims he was injured in the attack. He also told law enforcement officials the attackers yelled "Welcome to MAGA country!"
So far no video has surfaced to support this claim despite the incident allegedly occurring in a highly populated (and video-monitored) section of the city.
An investigation by Chicago police revealed Smollett walked several blocks to a sandwich shop but Smollett was seen on camera for the majority of that 60 second trip.
Two individuals pictured on security cameras nearby where the attacked supposedly occurred turned out to be homeless people who probably don't watch Empire of support the Republican party.
Investigators have also dismissed a neighbor's claim of seeing a "redneck"-person loitering behind Smollett's apartment.
Smollett was "reticent" to file a police report, according to the Chicago Suntimes, and refused to provide police with his phone after telling law enforcement he had been on a call with his manager when the attack occurred.
Other reports claim he kept the rope around his neck for as long as two hours after the supposed attack and a video of him walking into his apartment building reveals he didn't stop to tell the front desk security personnel about the incident.
The Daily Wire reports police filed a series of subpoenas to compel Smollett to produce his phone records but so far he's declined to hand over the evidence.
Police are also looking into the source of the rope Smollett says was placed around his neck during the attack. Initially, Smollett said the rope resembled a "noose," but upon closer examination, according to the Sun-Times, the rope appeared to be a thin "clothesline" which police believe came straight out of the package before it ended up around Smollett's neck (Smollett was still wearing the rope when police arrived to take his report, 45 minutes after the attack).
Naturally, people are now asking questions.
Photo by Getty Images