During the trial Tuesday, a video was shown to the jury of Jussie Smollett doing a “dry run” one day before his alleged hate crime attack.
Smollett is on trial over his claim in 2019 that he was the target of a racist and homophobic attack in Chicago. Prosecutors argue that the attack was orchestrated by Smollett.
On Tuesday, the jury was shown a video of Smollett walking near the scene of the alleged attack with Nigerian brothers Olabinjo and Abimbola Osundairo on Jan. 27, 2019.
There is also camera footage of Smollett picking the brothers up in an alley on Jan. 25, four days before the Jan. 29 attack.
While Smollett’s lawyer claims the actor was actually attacked by the brothers, prosecutors presented text messages between Smollett and one of the brothers from a few weeks after the alleged attack.
Smollett said “Brother…..I love you” to Abimbola Osundairo on Feb. 14, 2019. “I stand with you. I know 10000% you and your brother did nothing wrong and never would,” he added.
The prosecutors are alleging that the Osundairo brothers were given a check for $3,500 after the dry run and given $100 in cash to get supplies for the attack. This is consistent with what the brothers told investigators. They are expected to testify later this week.
Smollett’s attorney, Nenye Uche, said the brothers attacked Smollett because they “did not like him as a person”.
Chicago Police Detective Michael Theis, who was called to the stand first, was asked “To this day, has Mr. Smollett ever come clean about this hate crime?”
Theis responded “Not that I’m aware of”. He also explained that Smollett was “not forthcoming” with the investigators after reporting he was attacked.
Smollett claims he did not want to cooperate by handing his phone over or giving DNA swabs because the police department was leaking information to the media.
After logging approximately 3,000 hours of investigation into Smollett’s claim, Theis testified “At the end of the investigation we determined that the alleged hate crime was actually a staged event”.
Smollett is currently charged with six counts of felony disorderly conduct and faces three years in prison if he is convicted of staging the attack.