Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel weighed in on the alleged attack against Empire star Jussie Smollett, as newly released surveillance camera footage show blurry images of individuals police are calling persons of interest.

Jussie Smollett was hospitalized early Tuesday morning after what he claims was a racist and homophobic attack. In his police statement, Smollett said he was approached by two individuals who hurled racist and homophobic slurs at him. One of the assailants allegedly smacked him in the face before pouring an “unknown substance” on him and wrapping a rope around his neck.

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“Obviously the alleged statement of what happened here is horrific and there’s no place for it in the city of Chicago,” Emanuel said during a Wednesday evening press briefing about the extreme weather currently affecting the city. “I know the police department is working aggressively to [get] to the bottom of what happened.”

“But I want to be clear about the city of # Chicago and our values,” Emanuel continued. “Look at how we’re responding as the city as a whole taking care of each other. Those are our values.”

On Wednesday, evening, Chicago police released images of two individuals walking on New Street near where the alleged encounter happened between 1:30 a.m. and 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday morning, although they were unable to identify the people in the video.

BREAKING: Chicago Police release two photos of potential persons of interest in the Jussie Smollett investigation and issue a community alert. pic.twitter.com/lmFJpWQvI0 — Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) January 31, 2019

Meanwhile, authorities revealed that they had already reviewed hundreds of hours of footage from downtown surveillance cameras, but had yet to find footage of the incident Smollett described. Nevertheless, the incident has drawn fierce condemnation from politicians, celebrities and, other prominent figures across the country, many of whom took to social media to express their support for the actor.

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