'Empire' Actor Acquitted Of Domestic Abuse Charge

CHICAGO, IL — Morocco Omari, an actor who had been part of the cast of the Fox drama "Empire," was acquitted Friday of misdemeanor domestic violence charges more than a year after he was arrested, according to the Chicago Tribune. It took a jury less than two hours to deliver its verdict, the report added.

According to Chicago police, officers responded to a call April 5, 2017, in the Hyde Park neighborhood involving a dispute between Omari, 46, and a 24-year-old woman who told police she was his girlfriend. At the time, the woman accused Omari of shoving her to the ground, which scratched her neck and check.

"Anyone who truly knows me knows I would never raise my hand to a woman," said Omari, who has two daughters.

His arrest came after he had wrapped his role on "Empire," which is filmed in Chicago. Omari, who was born on Chicago's West Side but now lives on the East Coast, had played Tariq Cousins, an FBI agent who was the half-brother of Lucious Lyon (played by Terrence Howard). His character was killed in the third season's second-to-last episode, which aired May 17, 2017.

RELATED: 'Empire' Actor Arrested On Domestic Battery Charge

Since his arrest last year, Omari told the Tribune that finding employment has been challenging, and he had at least one job offer taken back after a producer did an online search of the actor. He recently landed a role on an episode of the CBS police series "Blue Bloods (it airs May 11), and he's signed on for the film "Iron Coffin," which is in pre-production, according to his Internet Movie Database page.

"It was like a hurricane wiping out your house," Omari told the Tribune about the accusations leveled against him. "Since the #MeToo movement, anytime people hear domestic abuse it gives them a pause."

More via the Chicago Tribune

Chicago-born actor Morocco Omari in 2017 (Photo by Kevin Winter | Getty Images Entertainment | Getty Images)