Actor Jussie Smollett arrested in Chicago: police spokesman

[February 21, 2019]    By Brendan O'Brien

(Reuters) - Actor Jussie Smollett has been arrested after he was charged with lying to police when he claimed he was attacked and beaten by two masked men shouting racist and homophobic slurs, Chicago police said on Thursday on Twitter.

Smollett, a 36-year-old black, openly gay actor on the hip-hop TV drama "Empire," ignited a firestorm on social media by telling police on Jan. 29 that two apparent supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump had struck him, put a noose around his neck and poured bleach over him.

Smollett is under arrest and in custody of detectives, Anthony Guglielmi, a spokesman for the Chicago Police Department said on Twitter on Thursday.

The Cook County State's Attorney's Office approved felony criminal charges against Smollett for disorderly conduct and filing a false police report, Guglielmi said on Wednesday on Twitter.

(Reporting by Brendan O'Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Gareth Jones and Frankllin Paul)

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