Jussie Smollett's neighbour saw two 'suspicious men' holding a rope lying in wait for Empire star before brutal homophobic and racist attack

The woman, who asked not to be named, said she saw a man who looked like a "redneck" loitering around and reported it to the police, according to TMZ.

Police are now investigating the attack on 35-year-old Jussie –  who plays Jamal Lyon in the show – in Chicago on Tuesday as a hate crime after racist thugs in ski masks put a noose around his neck and poured bleach over him in a brutal street attack.

The neighbour told TMZ about one of the men she saw saying: "He looked out of place."

She told the site she had walked out of her building at 12.30am on Tuesday to take her dogs out and she saw the man near the door, pacing between the parking garage looking agitated and smoking a cigarette.

She described him as a white man with scruff on his face wearing a blue winter beanie, a blue zip-up sweatshirt and blue jeans that were too short exposing "thick, grey hunting socks".

The latest report comes as it was revealed Jussie turned down extra security days before the attack after a racist and homophobic letter was sent to the set.

The show wanted around the clock protection after he received the vile mail.

A photograph of a hate letter sent to the actor shows Jussie's name written on the envelope in a thick red scrawl, with two US stamps and what looks like the initials MAGA (Make America Great Again).

Sentences had been pieced together on paper inside, using words and letters cut from a magazine.

He later told Attitude magazine: "I get tired of the idea of someone telling me what my truth is.

"I've said from the beginning of my journey: I do not hide who I am. I love who I love."

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