Jussie Smollett Case: Police Raid Home of Two 'Persons of Interest'

Following the news of police raiding the home of two 'persons of interests' Thursday, ABC7 Eyewitness News tweeted that multiple sources were saying the attack was "staged."

"Jussie Smollet and the 2 men who are being questioned by police staged the attack - allegedly because his character was being written out of the show Empire," ABC7's Rob Elgas tweeted.

"Someone familiar with the investigation says Smollett was a no-show for an interview earlier today with detectives. All of this coming hours after Smollett spoke to @GMA speaking out in his first media interview taking aim at those who doubted his story," he added.

Police raided the home of two 'persons of interest' according to CBS Chicago. Via Twitter, Charlie De Mar, a reporter for the local news station, tweeted pictures from the home and an update on Empire actor Jussie Smollett's case.

Officers reportedly took various items from the home, and "both men are of Nigerian decent [sic] and have appeared as extras on the show," De Mar said.

A relative living at the home raided by police said "she feels the police picked the two brothers up for questioning because there is a loose connection to Smollett, and the men left for Nigeria the same day of the attack," according to a CBS Chicago report.

The legitimacy of Smollett's story was called into question recently, due to the fact the actor didn't immediately hand over his phone to verify he was on the phone with his manager at the time of the alleged attack. Smollett has since provided a digital copy of his phone records; however, they are "limited and heavily redacted."

The Empire actor spoke with Good Morning America'sRobin Roberts Thursday morning, saying he's "pissed off" about his doubters.

"It's the attackers, but also the attacks," he said, talking about those who don't believe his story. "It's not necessarily that you don't believe that this is the truth, you don't even want to see the truth."

"It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would've supported me a lot more, and that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now," he added.

Part 1 of the interview:

Part 2 of the interview:

The 36-year-old was hospitalized January 29 following the attack. While reports of the attackers wearing "Make America Great Again" hats began swirling shortly after news of the attack broke, Smollett told Roberts he "never said that."

"I never said that. I didn't need to add anything like that," he told Roberts. "They called me a f*****. They called me a "n*****." There's no which way you cut it. I don't need some MAGA hat as the cherry on top of some racist sundae."