A$AP Rocky Found Guilty of Assault in Sweden

Music, News

A$AP Rocky has been found guilty of assault by the Stockholm District Court, The New York Times and Associated Press report. Rocky, who pleaded not guilty, received a suspended sentence for assaulting Mustafa Jafari in central Stockholm—an attack the court ruled was not in self-defense. He will also pay the plaintiff’s costs but won’t spend any longer in jail, after the judge ruled that he had spent long enough in the Swedish detention center, according to the Times. Rocky’s two associates charged with the June 30 assault were also found guilty.

Rocky was arrested in early July on suspicion of assault. He was detained in a Swedish jail for three weeks.

During Rocky’s trial, the rapper testified that his actions were executed in the interest of protecting himself. “I wasn’t thinking about anything else than defending myself,” Rocky said, according to a report by The New York Times. When discussing his interaction with the alleged victims, the Times quoted Rocky as saying: “We just wanted to defuse the whole situation and get away from them.” He added, “Me and my crew start to tell them, listen, go the other way, we don’t want no problems. But Jafari [one of the alleged victims], he was persistent.”

According to the Times, Rocky said that he took physical measures only after his security guard was attacked. “I threw Jafari to the ground, and I stepped on his arm,” Rocky said. “And I punched him or shoved him.”

Before his arrest, Rocky posted footage of the incident on Instagram. In the video, the men appear to accuse Rocky and his affiliates of breaking a pair of their headphones. Rocky and his crew repeatedly ask the two men to stop following them. Additional footage released by TMZ shows one of the alleged victims being attacked by a man who appears to be Rocky.

Rocky’s story was covered by international media outlets. Kanye West and Kim Kardashian lobbied the Trump administration to help free the rapper.

When Rocky was temporarily released from jail he played a show in California and addressed the crowd. “It was a scary, humbling experience but I’m here right now,” he said. “God is good. People who ain’t even fuck 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.”

Read Pitchfork’s timeline of Rocky’s situation “Why A$AP Rocky Was Arrested in Sweden for Assault and What Happens Next.”

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