The media dropped the alleged racist and homophobic attack on “Empire” actor Jussie Smollett pretty quickly, but Rafer Weigel of Fox 32 in Chicago and Rob Elgas of ABC 7 in Chicago have been keeping in touch with Chicago police to see how the investigation is going.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that when officers showed up at Smollett’s apartment, a “thin, light rope” was still around Smollett’s neck. On Wednesday, Elgas reported that the rope was clothesline.

Here’s the first specific detail we’ve learned about the type of rope found: A police spokesman tells @ABC7Chicago the rope around Smollett’s neck was a type of rope that can be used for clothes lines. — Rob Elgas (@RobElgasABC7) February 6, 2019

On Thursday, Weigel reported that police are now “visiting every store in the city” that sells that kind of rope and reviewing surveillance footage to see who might have purchased it.

.@Chicago_Police say they’ve ID’d retailers of the rope found on #JussieSmollet & are now visiting every store in the city 2 check surveillance 2 see who bought it. They’ve also obtained more video from nearby hotels & red light cameras. Still no video of alleged attack — Rafer Weigel (@RaferWeigel) February 7, 2019

Boy, the New York Daily News was really excited to report that police had finally found video of the attack. Turns out they hadn’t; it was the two homeless people walking down the sidewalk.

Can we say we feel sorry for whichever police officer has had to review hundreds of hours of surveillance video footage?

Closing in! — Mary Vanek (@mevanek007) February 8, 2019

Now it’s getting interesting — Hpygoluki (@hpygoluki) February 8, 2019

What if the "rope" is really clothesline that is provided to every unit in the building in the laundry area, as is common with high-end buildings? Usually you get amenities like that: kitchen stuff, sponges, dishwasher soap, clothesline as welcome gift when you move into unit. — Hill?Buzz (@HillBuzz) February 7, 2019

Damn, CPD is on a mission @ScribeUndead — James Gavitt (@JamesGavitt) February 7, 2019

This seems like a lot of resources to use for a city and police department that can only manage to solve 20% of its murder cases — tom needham (@310Dillon) February 7, 2019

Will they release the video if it was bought by Jussie Smollett? — Joe Pags Pagliarulo (@JoeTalkShow) February 8, 2019

Just check the dude's bank account. With a warrant… — World View (@realconsrv1) February 8, 2019

This is ridiculous. He probably didn’t buy it in Chicago — CJ (@nfltexanchick) February 8, 2019

Just an FYI but Under Armor bags use a nylon rope in their store bags. I would think other retail stores may use rope as well. — sTePhAnIe (@redhilitez) February 7, 2019

I think it's more likely that he found the "rope" on the ground as he was walking into building from underground. Entrance near loading docks/parking spots. Could have been discarded from someone who tied packages together or bikes or something. Picked it up, then concocted #hoax — Hill?Buzz (@HillBuzz) February 7, 2019

Liberal mass media #FakeNews has been very quiet…. almost like they want this to drift away…… — * (@RoccoLombardo5) February 8, 2019

It’s a big story — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sens. Kamala Harris and Cory Booker all tweeted about it, calling it a “modern-day lynching.”

What about every store that sells MAGA caps? https://t.co/S8Jj2KuxFk — Anthony Bialy (@AnthonyBialy) February 8, 2019

He needs to give up his phone. Police need to see the call records. — Noelle Whaley (@Fan_of_Freddie) February 7, 2019

It was ninjas. Ninjas are masters of concealment. Or it was vampires. Vampires can't be picked up on video and it was at night. — GhettoTarzan (@GreyGorilla1977) February 8, 2019

Redneck ninjas … trained by Special Forces with Predator claoking technology …. — laughing tyger (@laughing_tyger) February 8, 2019

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