"Smollett took advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career," Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said.
Howard took to Instagram on Feb. 24 to defend Smollett, claiming that his friend and colleague could not have done what police said he did. Howard shared a video of Smollett playing with Howard's son on a plane, saying, "All your lil homies got you. ... We love the hell outta you."
When an Instagram user criticized Howard for supporting Smollett, Howard fired back.
"Sorry you feel that way but that's the only Jussie I know. The Jussie I know could never even conceive of something so unconscious and ugly," he wrote.
"His innocence or judgment is not for any of us to decide. Stay in your lane and my lane is empathy and love and compassion for someone I've called my son for five years. It's God's job to judge and it's ours to love and hope, especially for those that we claim to have loved."
Taraji Henson, another "Empire" co-star, has also defended Smollett amid the investigation, even as it turned from a probe into the alleged attack to one of Smollett being an alleged criminal himself.
Henson took to Instagram a few days after the reported attack, saying, "I wish what happened to my baby was just one big bad joke but it wasn’t and we all feel his pain right now."
She later added, "My baby is resilient and love still lives in him. The devil and his minions are very busy right now."
On Feb. 20, Henson on Twitter shared a post by 20th Century Fox that stated: "Jussie Smollett continues to be a consummate professional on set and as we have previously stated, he is not being written out of the show."
Henson neglected to share the studio's follow-up posts over the next several days.
On Feb. 21, 20th Century stated, following Smollett's arrest on the charge of filing a false police report: "We understand the seriousness of this matter and we respect the legal process. We are evaluating the situation and we are considering our options."
The next day, the studio released a joint statement from Lee Daniels and the other "Empire" executive producers.
"Jussie has been an important member of our 'Empire' family for the past five years and we care about him deeply. While these allegations are very disturbing, we are placing our trust in the legal system as the process plays out," it said in part.