Post #2, cont...
On the late morning of Sunday January 27, 2019, Smollett drove his vehicle back to the Lakeview neighborhood to pick up the brothers and show them the scene where he wanted the staged attack to take place. Smollett then drove the brothers to the corner of New Street and North Water Street in Chicago where the staged attack was to take place. This was just outside Smollett’s apartment building. Further details were provided by Smollett which included that the staged attack was to take place near the stairs on the southwest corner of New and NorthWater Streets at 10:00PM the following night. Smollett also instructed the brothers not to bring their cell phones with them.
Smollett directed the brothers’ attention toward a surveillance camera on the corner, which he believed would capture the incident. There was a change in the plan that bleach was going to be used rather than gasoline during the simulated attack. Smollett then drove the brothers home and provided them with a $3500 personal check made payable to Abel, which was backdated to January 23, 2019.
On the morning of January 28, 2019, the date of the planned incident, the brothers purchased the clothing items at a local beauty supply store and the rope at a nearby hardware store, using the $100 bill that Smollett had given them. These purchases were corroborated by surveillance video and a receipt. Abel also deposited Smollett’s check that same day in his own bank account. Later that evening, the plan had changed and the time of the attack had to be pushed back because Smollett’s flight into O’Hare Airport from New York had been delayed by four hours. Smollett’s plane eventually landed at O’Hare at 12:30 AM on January 29, 2019. At 12:49 AM, there was a phone call between Smollett and Abel which lasted three minutes.
During this call, Smollett told Abel the attack would take place at exactly 2:00 AM at the preset location. Minutes later Ola ordered an Uber ride share to his home to leave for the crime scene. Cell phone records and Uber records confirm this call and the Uber ride.
The brothers then took the Uber to the 1400 block of North Wells where they exited the Uber and flagged down a taxi which took them to within three blocks of the arranged scene at approximately 1:22 AM. The taxi’s in-car video captures the brothers flagging the cab and riding in the back seat.
From approximately 1:22A.M. until approximately 2:03A.M., video evidence showed the brothers on foot in an area bordered by Lake Shore Drive on the east, Columbus Drive on the west, Illinois Street to the north, and the Chicago River to the south. Video evidence also showed that Smollett returned back to his apartment from the airport at approximately 1:30 AM. At 1:45 AM, Smollett left his building to walk to a nearby Subway restaurant at Illinois Street and McClurg Court At 2:00 AM, the brothers were at the intersection of New St. and North Water Street; however, Defendant Smollett did not arrive exactly at the preset time. The brothers then proceeded a quarter block north and waited near a bench until Smollett arrived, which was four minutes later. Surveillance cameras captured the brothers waiting at this location just prior to the staged attack.
During Smollett’s interview on ABC’s Good Morning America which aired on February 14, 2019, he identified the people shown in a still of this surveillance video as his attackers. Also, during this interview, Smollett indicated that he was positive that these were his attackers. The two men in this video are in fact that Osundairo brothers.
It was at this time, that the brothers staged the attack of Defendant Smollett just how Smollett had instructed them. While the staged attack was occurring, a witness, who is an employee of NBC News Chicago, had just parked and exited her vehicle just around the corner from the location of the staged attack. This witness indicated that she heard nothing at the time the staged attack was occurring, despite the fact that Defendant Smollett told CPD detectives that his attackers were “yelling” racial and homophobic slurs at him, and he in turn was “yelling” back at them. The staged attack lasted 45 seconds, and it was just outside the view of the desired nearby camera that Smollett had pointed out to the brothers approximately 15 hours earlier.
Approximately one minute later, video evidence showed the brothers run from the location, southbound toward the Chicago River and westbound toward Columbus Drive. Video evidence also captured the brothers entering a taxi at the Hyatt Regency Hotel across the river at 02:10 A.M.
Video evidence then showed that at 2:25 AM, the brothers exit the taxi on the 3600 block of North Marshfield Ave. and walk northbound. This was only a few blocks from the brothers’Lakeview apartment, which was also the original Uber pick up location to the staged crime scene. Video shows the brothers walking from where they were dropped off toward their home. Two minutes after the brothers exited the taxi, at 2:27 A.M., Defendant Smollett’s manager called the police to report the incident. At approximately 2:42 A.M., Chicago Policearrived at Smollett’s apartment.
Chicago Police Officers observed that Smollett had a rope draped around his neck. This was captured on police body worn camera. Seconds later,Smollett asked the Police to shut off the cameras. Smollett then made a police report where he claimed he was the victim of an attack in which the offenders struck him while yelling racial and homophobic slurs. Smollett also reported that the offenders placed a rope around his neck, poured a liquid chemical on him, and told him this is “MAGA Country.”
Defendant Smollett also reported for the first time, that three days prior, on January 26, 2019, he received a phone call from an unidentified phone number in which an unidentified male caller stated, "Hey you little F----" before ending the call. Smollett also told police that the incident happened near a camera, which he stated should have captured the attack. This is the same camera that Defendant Smollett pointed out to the Osundairo brothers in preparation of this staged attack. Smollett also told police that the initial and primary attacker (now known to be Abel Osundairo) was wearing a ski mask which covered his entire face, with the exception of his eyes and the area all around his eyes. Smollett stated to the police that he could see that the area around this person’s eyes was white-skinned. As stated earlier in this proffer, the Osundairo brothers are dark skinned male blacks. During the Good Morning America interview referenced earlier, Smollett stated “And it feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would have supported me much more. A lot more…” These statements by Smollett further misled the police and the public to believe that his attackers were white.
On January 29, 2019 at 7:45 PM, just less than 18 hours following reported attack, Defendant Smollett placed a phone call to Abel and the duration of the call was five seconds. Two minutes later, Abel called back Smollett and the call lasted 1 minute and 34 seconds. The brothers then boarded their flight to Nigeria and left the country. On January 30, 2019 at 10:46 AM, Defendant Smollett called Abel, who was in Istanbul Turkey, and the duration of the call lasted 8 minutes and 48 seconds.
For the next two weeks, the Chicago Police Department investigated this matter as a Hate Crime. Chicago police were able to identify the Osundairo brothers as the alleged attackers through an extensive investigation using Surveillance Videos, Police Pod Videos, in-car taxi camera videos, rideshare records, credit card records, bank records, and a store receipt.
On February 13, 2019, the brothers returned from Nigeria, landing at Chicago O'Hare International Airport, and they were detained by US Customs. Members of the Chicago Police Department then placed them into custody. That same evening, the Chicago Police executed a Search Warrant upon the Osundairo brothers’ residence where they recovered evidence which linked Abel to the Empire TV show. Chicago Police already had determined that Ola was affiliated with the show as well.
Following their arrest and through consultation with their attorneys, the brothers agreed to cooperate in the investigation. As more evidence, such as text messages, phone records, social media records, bank records, surveillance video and the receipt from the purchase of the rope was obtained by investigators, the investigation shifted from a Hate Crime to a Disorderly Conduct investigation.
The Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office approved charges of Disorderly Conduct against Defendant Smollett at 6:10 PM on February 20, 2019. At 5:00 AM this morning (January 21, 2019), Defendant Smollett was placed into custody at Area Central Chicago Police Headquarters.
