U.S. rapper says he acted in self-defense
STOCKHOLM » For the past month, celebrities, fans, congressmen and even President Donald Trump have weighed in on rapper A$AP Rocky’s fate as he faced accusations of assault.
But Thursday afternoon in a courtroom in Stockholm, Rocky himself was the one who spoke, giving his version of the street brawl that put him in jail.
Seated between his lawyer and an interpreter facing the judges, Ro ck y , whose real name is Rakim Mayers, testified that he had been followed by a 19-year- old man, Mustafa Jafari, and a friend of Jafari. The two men, he said, were refusing his requests to leave them alone.
A video shows Rocky, 30, throwing Jafari to the ground, and punching and kicking Jafari along with other members of his group. But Rocky said that scene occurred after Jafari and his friend had attacked one of Rocky’s group first.
“I wasn’t thinking about anything else than defending myself,” he said.
Trump has claimed that Rocky is being unjustly held, and for a second day his special envoy for hostage affairs, Robert O’Brien, appeared in the courtroom.
Rocky told the court that he was in town for a concert and decided to go out with his group to get some air and look at architecture. Jafari and his friend came up to Rocky’s group, and eventually Rocky’s security guard asked them to leave, he said.
“Moments later, they came back,” Rocky said. His security guard, who was not charged, then lifted Jafari by his neck and carried him several feet away, moments that were also captured on video. In the process, Jafari’s headphones were broken, and Jafari continued to follow Rocky’s group, complaining about the headphones.
“We just wanted to defuse the whole situation and get away from them,” Rocky said.
It was only after Jafari and his friend attacked his security guard, Rocky said, that he became aggressive. “I threw Jafari to the ground, and I stepped on his arm,” he said. “And I punched him or shoved him,” he said, adding that his friends joined in to help.
Rocky said his goal was to calm Jafari down. The prosecutor, Daniel Suneson, expressed some skepticism. “You had just thrown him several meters,” he said. “Then you kicked and hit him.”