BREAKING NEWS: A$AP Rocky CONVICTED of assault by Swedish court

Aug 14, 2019

A$AP Rocky has been found guilty of assault and handed a conditional sentence after a street brawl in Stockholm that was caught on video.

The rapper, and two members of his entourage, were convicted by a Swedish court on Wednesday, following a viral fight in the Swedish capital on June 30.

The Stockholm District Court said in its ruling that the performer’s claim of self-defense was rejected.

“The defendants have claimed that they acted in self-defence. Based on statements from two witnesses, the court finds that the defendants were not subject to a current or imminent criminal attack. Therefore, they were not in a situation where they were entitled to use violence in self-defence. Nor could they have perceived themselves to be in such a situation.”

The conditional sentence means that A$AP Rocky will be subject to a probationary period of two years.

The court also awarded damages to the victim “for violation of his integrity and pain and suffering.”

The defendants were also ordered to repay legal expenses to the state.

Trump weighs in

Donald Trump took to twitter to guarantee rapper A$AP Rocky‘s bail, or an alternative, for release from a Swedish jail.

Trump’s tweet came just a day after he announced plans to call the Swedish prime minister to see how he can help rapper A$AP Rocky.

But according to CNBC News, this wasn’t Trump’s original idea. The proposed call to Prime Minister Stefan Lofven came as an idea after the president reportedly had a conversation with Kanye West.

The New York Times reported that Kanye asked his wife Kim to call in a favor. She was told to ask Jared Kushner, Trump’s senior advisor and son-in-law, to help A$AP in Sweden. Kushner then asked Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to work with Swedish authorities to make sure conditions in the the Swedish jail were to up par with conditions in the U.S.

In response to Trump’s tweets and outreach, Löfven’s spokesperson Mikael Lindström said in a statement to CNN at the time that “the Government is not allowed, and will not attempt, to influence the legal proceedings, which are now ongoing.”

Swedish officials maintained that the country’s judiciary is “completely independent” and “does not take into consideration outside pressure from politicians or others.”

A$AP Rocky responds to fans

A$AP Rocky returned to the United States last week and spoke directly to his fans about his “scary, humbling” detainment.

According to Pitchfork, the rapper took the stage at the Real Street festival in Anaheim, California and performed for the first time since being released from jail in Sweden, where he had been held since early July.

He kicked off his set wearing a retro mask from “The Incredible Crash Dummies,” before finally removing it to addressing the crowd about the pink elephant in the room.

“Everybody listen, I know you was praying for me,” the rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, told the screaming audience, before opening up about his time in the Swedish jail.

“Y’all know how happy I am to be here right now,” he began. “I wanna say this though. When I was away—hold the mosh please, this a sentimental moment!—what I experienced was crazy…. It was a scary, humbling experience but I’m here right now. God is good. People who ain’t even f**k with me felt sympathy. People was praying for me, that uplifted me when my spirits was low. I can’t thank y’all enough, man, that was crazy. Hip-hop never looked so strong together.”

But according to XXL, fans haven’t forgotten a 2016 interview when A$AP, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, tried to distance himself from the Black Lives Matter Movement and the murder of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

“Why, because I’m Black? So every time something happens because I’m Black I gotta stand up? What the fuck am I, Al Sharpton now? I’m A$AP Rocky. I did not sign up to be no political activist,” A$AP told The Breakfast Club in 2016. “I don’t wanna talk about no fucking Ferguson and shit because I don’t live over there! I live in fucking Soho and Beverly Hills. I can’t relate. I’m in the studio; I’m in these fashion studios; I’m in these bitches’ drawers. I’m not doing anything outside of that. That’s my life.”

A$AP returned to The Breakfast Club days later to clear up what he said.

“I just get upset, and what I was really trying to say there was, like, yo, I just, I hate when the bandwagon stuff start.”

“I mean, how come, you know, Black lives only matter when a police take ’em, when a police officer takes it? And it should be like, Black lives, it should matter when a Black life take it. You know what I mean? It should always matter. All lives matter!”

Rocky also explained at the festival that his legal team is expecting the jury to have a verdict in his criminal case by Wednesday, noting, “Hopefully we don’t have to go back to jail.”

“I don’t got anything against Swedish people,” he clarified, acknowledging that during his ordeal his Swedish fans were “riding outside the jail, protesting,” and writing him letters of support while he was in custody.

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