Pop Culture

FBI Says Jussie Smollett May Not Have Sent Hateful Letter

Authorities are claiming that the Chicago PD spoke too soon.

jussie smollett letter
Image via Getty

The FBI said that the Chicago Police were overstating things when they claimed that Jussie Smollett definitely sent a hateful, ransom-note style letter to himself. Law enforcement sources who spoke to TMZ said that the matter of who sent the letter is still under investigation.

Authorities have searched the apartment of Abel and Ola Osundairo, Smollett's alleged accomplices in what police are claiming was a staged hate crime. The gossip website says that they seized magazines in the raid and are determining if the lettering in the threatening note came from the publications in their apartment. However, that connection hasn't been made just yet by investigators looking into Smollett's increasingly strange case. The claims of the anonymous officials speaking to TMZ run counter to the words of CPD Superintendent Eddie Johnson. The top cop said that Smollett's connection to the letter was determined.

"I think he [Johnson] went too far. We're not there yet," the unnamed official said.

Beyond the letter statements, Johnson said that Smollett owes Chicago an apology for using it as the backdrop of his alleged hoax.

“I know the racial divide that exists here. I know how hard it’s been for our city and our nation to come together. And I also know the disparities and I know the history,” Johnson said in a press conference earlier this week. “I love the city of Chicago and the Chicago Police Department, warts and all. But this publicity stunt was a scar that Chicago didn’t earn and certainly didn’t deserve.”

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