After a lengthy and at times tense day of testimony Tuesday, jurors in the Jussie Smollett trial began hearing from more prosecution witnesses Wednesday at the actor’s trial for allegedly orchestrating and reporting a fake hate crime for attention.

       The day’s first witness was Chicago police Det. Kimberly Murray, who interviewed the former “Empire” actor at Northwestern Memorial Hospital a few hours after the alleged attack.

       Murray said Smollett told her he was trying to get back to the lobby of his building when he heard one of his attackers state, “Empire!” and then use homophobic and racial slurs, to which he replied “What the (expletive) did you say to me?”

       One of the attackers then responded, “This is MAGA country, (racial epithet)!”

       The assailants put a rope around his neck like a noose and then fled, Smollett has said.

       Smollett told Murray that one attacker was wearing a ski mask, but he could see through the “open eye hole” that the attacker appeared white, Murray testified.

       The two brothers whom prosecutors allege helped Smollett stage the attack are in fact Black. Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo are expected to be prosecutors’ centerpiece witnesses; they have not yet taken the stand at trial.

       Smollett is accused of staging the January 2019 attack to gain favor and improve his status with his television show, which has since been canceled.

       The actor allegedly told police he was the victim of a racist and homophobic assault. Two men he didn’t recognize yelled slurs, poured bleach on him, and put a rope around his neck like a noose, he said.

       Jurors spent most of Tuesday hearing from a Chicago police detective who acted as one of the lead investigators in Smollett’s case. Michael Theis detailed the way Smollett turned from victim to suspect as Abimbola and Olabinjo Osundairo told police Smollett persuaded them to help carry out the phony assault.

       Theis also walked jurors through extensive surveillance footage from around the time of the January 2019 attack, which he said corroborated the brothers’ story.

       On cross-examination, Smollett’s attorney focused repeatedly on what the defense has claimed was tunnel vision by police, who believed the Osundairos’ story over Smollett’s and — according to the defense — missed or ignored key evidence and witnesses. Among them: a woman who happened to be walking her dogs nearby a couple of hours before the attack and reportedly told police she saw a suspicious-looking white guy carrying a rope; and a security guard who claimed he saw a white man in a ski mask run past him around the time of the assault.

       The defense also sought to portray the Osundairos as homophobic criminals and drug dealers, noting that police found guns and cocaine in their apartment and apparently anti-gay sentiments on their social media.

       mcrepeau@chicagotribune.com

       jmeisner@chicagotribune.com

       Jury begins hearing more prosecution witnesses detail allegedly phony hate crime on third day of Jussie Smollett’s trial

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