Jussie Smollett was charged Wednesday for allegedly filing a false police report in which he claimed he was attacked last month in Chicago, officials said.

The felony charge, which in Illinois falls under disorderly conduct, was approved by the Cook County State’s Attorney's Office hours after the actor was officially classified by Chicago police as a suspect in the case.

Police spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said detectives will now negotiate with the actor’s legal team to set terms for "a reasonable surrender" for his arrest.

"Like any other citizen, Mr. Smollett enjoys the presumption of innocence, particularly when there has been an investigation like this one where information, both true and false, has been repeatedly leaked," his attorneys, Todd Pugh and Victor Henderson, said in a statement. "Given these circumstances, we intend to conduct a thorough investigation and to mount an aggressive defense."

The decision to charge comes weeks after the Empire actor told Chicago police he was attacked early Jan. 29 by two men who threw a bleachlike chemical on him, called him anti-gay slurs, and put a rope around his neck. In a follow-up interview with police, Smollett also said one of the attackers shouted, "This is MAGA country."

Smollett, who is black and openly gay, has maintained that he was the victim of a hate crime, and the reported attack quickly received national attention, putting immediate pressure on Chicago police to solve the case.

With little initial evidence of the attack located, police released grainy images of two persons of interest who were captured on surveillance video in Smollett's neighborhood around the time the actor said he was attacked.