Jussie Smollett: Police arrest two suspects in connection with alleged 'racist and homophobic attack' against actor

Two suspects have been arrested in connection with the alleged attack on actor Jussie Smollett.

Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said were arrested on suspicion of assault and battery. Department policy prohibited him from naming the victim, he said, but he nonetheless confirmed that a pair of Nigerian brothers were arrested in connection with the case involving the Empire cast member.

Smollett is an actor on the television drama and has claimed last month's attack was "racist and homophobic".

Mr Guglielmi added at least one of the men in custody worked on Empire, but he does not know in what capacity.

The pair were picked them at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport after they flew from Nigeria earlier this week. Police served a search warrant at their Chicago apartment.

Authorities said earlier that the men were being questioned as potential suspects.

“Detectives have probable cause that they may have been involved in an alleged crime and we are working to corroborate the allegations and investigative timeline as our investigation continues,” Mr Guglielmi told The Independent.

Interrogations were set to resume today with the two men and their attorney.

“While we haven’t found any video documenting the alleged attack, there is no evidence to say that this is a hoax,” Mr Guglielmi said. “The alleged victim is being cooperative at this time and continues to be treated as a victim, not a suspect.”

He added that police also are contacting various retail stores in the hopes of determining who bought the length of rope that was around Smolllett’s neck.

Smollett alleged that the attackers yelled “this is MAGA country”, referencing Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, but he told ABC News eaelier this week that earlier reports from some outlets that his attackers were wearing MAGA hats were inaccurate.

“I didn’t need to add anything like that,” he said. “I don’t need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae.”

Smollett said he didn’t want to call police at first, but that his friend and creative director Frank Gatson called on his behalf. Smollett said he didn’t remove the rope from around his neck before police arrived “because I wanted them to see”.

He also said he didn’t initially want to give police his cellphone because the device contained private content and phone numbers.

Smollett later gave detectives heavily redacted phone records that police have said are insufficient for a criminal investigation.

Additional reporting by agencies