Jussie Smollett was attacked this week in Chicago, and the news has sent a shockwave through the industry. Allegedly, Smollett was jumped by two white men in ski masks after he left a Subway restaurant. The two men beat Smollett, placed a rope around his neck and doused him in bleach. The Empire star took himself to the hospital, where he was treated for a fractured rib and released. Now, TMZ is reporting that Smollett's neighbor saw a suspicious man hours before the attack.
The media site spoke to the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. She claims that she saw a man that looked like a "redneck" loitering outside her and Smollett's building. She left the building at 12:30 AM on Tuesday to take her dogs for a walk and saw the man near the door, pacing between the parking garage and entrance. Allegedly, the man was looking agitated and smoking a cigarette. She claims that, "He looked out of place." She further described him as a white man with scruff wearing a blue winter beanie, a blue zip-up sweatshirt with a hood, and blue jeans that were too short, exposing "thick, grey hunting socks" with beige dress shoes. The neighbor claims she saw what looked like a rope, or a clothesline, handing from the bottom of his sweatshirt. It is possible that this man is one of the "persons of interest" that investigators are currently looking into.
