Man testifies that Jussie Smollett paid him to "fake beat him up"
CBSN
This story originally appeared on CBS Chicago.
One of the two brothers who claim actor Jussie Smollett paid them to pull off a fake attack took the stand on Wednesday. Smollett, 39, faces six counts of disorderly conduct and is accused of lying to police about the 2019 incident.
Smollett, who is Black and openly gay, told Chicago police that he was attacked by two masked men who yelled racist and homophobic slurs in January 2019, authorities said. Smollett claimed the men put a noose around his neck and poured a chemical on him. But prosecutors say Smollett orchestrated the incident and paid two men $3,500 to stage the attack, which he denies.
Earlier this week, Rev. Greg Lewis, an assistant pastor at St. Gabriel's Church of God In Christ in Milwaukee, physically carried one of his parishioners to the polls inside the city's Midtown early voting center to cast a ballot in Wisconsin's upcoming Democratic primary. Supported by crutches and the pastor himself, the disabled man was one of many residents Lewis has helped vote this cycle.
Around 1:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed when a cargo ship lost power and crashed into it. Officials were able to prevent cars from driving onto the bridge just before the accident, but eight construction workers remained on the structure and plummeted into the river below. Here's how the events unfolded.