Actor Jussie Smollett sought for questioning in attack he reported

CHICAGO - Chicago police said Saturday they have reached out to the attorney for “Empire” star Jussie Smollett because they still want to speak to Smollett after releasing two brothers they had been questioning about a reported attack against the actor.

Twelve hours after calling them “possible suspects,” police late Friday released the brothers without filing any charges, citing “new evidence” they did not disclose.

“Detectives have additional investigative work to complete,” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said in a tweet.

Outside the South Side police station where the brothers were held for two days, their lawyer told reporters Friday night that “innocence prevailed” but was vague about why her clients were taken into custody and why they were released.

“My guys are walking home. They are not charged. They are not suspects in this case,” attorney Gloria Schmidt said.

Police sources have said detectives are investigating the possibility that Smollett had the brothers fake the attack around 2 a.m. ?Jan. 29 in Streeterville. Schmidt has said the brothers have worked with Smollett on “Empire” and use the same gym. Smollett follows the brothers’ bodybuilding page on Instagram.

Asked about the “new evidence” police mentioned, Schmidt said, “Obviously I had it. Obviously my clients had it. But I think it took a matter of coordination.” She would not say what that was.

Chicago criminal defense attorney Michael Monico, who is representing Smollett, declined to comment. Efforts to reach the brothers were unsuccessful.

The men were arrested Wednesday night after detectives tracked their movements on surveillance cameras in the Streeterville area, where Smollett says two men shouted racial and homophobic slurs at him, hit him and wrapped a rope around his neck while yelling, “This is MAGA country!”

Smollett, in his first TV interview, said Thursday he believed the two people captured by those cameras are his attackers. “ ’Cause … I was there,” he told “Good Morning America” co-anchor Robin Roberts. “I don’t have any doubt in my mind that that’s them.”

Smollett was born in Santa Rosa and lived in Sonoma County as a young child.

The brothers are aspiring actors who have posted auditions online, including a scene in which each of them were interrogated by police for a murder.

They signed with the Babes ‘N Beaus Model and Talent Agency in 2016, according to Don Underwood, one of the owners of the Hinsdale-based agency.