A CBS Chicago reporter tracked down a third brother of the two men involved in the purported Jussie Smollett hate crime investigation, would not say if he believed his brothers had been telling the truth, or deny that they might have been paid as incentive to discontinue cooperating with prosecutors.
Reporter Charlie De Mar posted video footage on Twitter of an impromptu interview with a man the reporter said was a brother of Ola and Abel Osundairo, the fitness consultants who Smollett had been accused of paying to stage a hate crime against him. Smollett was arrested last month on 16 counts of disorderly conduct for allegedly falsifying police reports about a January 29 assault that prosecutors and Chicago police appear to believe was orchestrated by the actor.
De Mar posted a series of tweets based on a conversation he had with the man, who was not named, on Wednesday, the day after prosecutors unexpectedly dropped all charges against Smollett, dismissed the criminal case, and expunged his record.
In one clip, the man says he is “happy for everyone” in response to a question about the charges being dropped, and says he will not speak for his brothers, as he expects them to comment publicly themselves.
I just spoke to a brother of the Osundairo’s. (A third brother)
I asked him about the charges being dropped against Jussie Smollett.
“I’m happy for him. That’s a good thing….I’m happy for everyone.”@cbschicago pic.twitter.com/DIOolV9Jsn
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 27, 2019
In another clip, De Mar asks the man if he believes his brothers’ story about being paid by Smollett to attack him.
“No comment,” the man says. “They [the brothers] can speak on their own.”
I also asked if he believes his brothers version of events. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/ik12jhhGAK
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 27, 2019
The reporter also tweeted about an off-camera exchange in which he asked the man if he thought Smollett may have paid his brothers to stop cooperating with prosecutors. Again, the man said, “no comment.”
Off camera I asked if his family or his brothers were paid or promised any compensation from Jussie Smollett and his team in exchange for them not to cooperate with the state. He had no comment. @cbschicago pic.twitter.com/QHT7EfZwcO
— Charlie De Mar (@CharlieDeMar) March 27, 2019
The Osundairo brothers have made no public comments about the alleged hate attack or the stunning decision to drop the charges thus far.
[Feature image: AP Photo/Paul Beaty]
