A$AP Rocky Charged With Criminal Assault In Controversial Swedish Case
A$AP Rocky has been charged with criminal assault by Swedish prosecutors, facing up to two years in jail.
The rapper has been slapped with an Assault Causing Actual Bodily Harm charge weeks after being in a Stockholm jail awaiting his fate in regards to a public brawl that took place in the Swedish capital, in which he was allegedly involved. If convicted, he and two of his associates, who were given the same charges, could face up to two years in prison.
However, TMZ reports that prosecutors are likely not going to recommend the maximum sentence if he does get convicted. Rocky turned himself in on June 30 after a video emerged showing the feud, which involved him and some members of his entourage, as well as two unidentified men who claim they were assaulted by the group. At the time, the Harlem native posted a couple of videos of their interactions on his Instagram page, which clearly showed him and his security guard begging the two men to leave them alone.
In the clip, he is heard telling one of the men, who spoke minimal English, “Listen, listen. We don’t wanna fight y’all. We don’t wanna go to jail,” as he placed a hand on his shoulder, but the duo wasn’t ready to let it go. Rocky also captioned one of the videos, “SO A FEW DRUG ADDICTS ARE NOT MY FANS, WE DON’T KNOW THESE GUYS AND WE DID’NT [sic] WANT TROUBLE, THEY FOLLOWED US FOR 4 BLOCKS, AND THEY WERE SLAPPING GIRLS BUTTS WHO PASSED [sic], GIVE ME A BREAK.”
The whole incident started when the two men claimed they were upset that Rocky broke their headphones. But as Hollywood Life pointed out, in another clip that emerged online, one of the men is allegedly seen throwing the headphones at the bodyguard, before then reportedly following the crew for several blocks. However, it appears that as the men continued following them, things ended up escalating, and Rocky was allegedly spotted throwing one of the men onto the ground.
While the initial videos may be the key to exoneration for Rocky and his associates, pictures released online showed one of the men baring some bloody injuries. That same man has not been charged with any crime so far. It is now up to a panel of four judges to hear the 30-year-old hip hop artist’s case, which will likely start on Tuesday, July 30, and a majority of three must find him guilty to have him convicted of criminal assault. For now, he must continue waiting in jail for the trial to start.
