ASAP Rocky was found guilty of assault – but luckily escaped long term jail time in Sweden. After a stint in jail overseas starting on July 3rd in connection with a street brawl on June 30th, spending most of the month of July behind bars – ASAP Rocky was released until his verdict was to be announced in August- and he promptly returned to US soil.
The jailing and incarceration or ASAP Rocky led to a public outcry and even international tensions as even President Trump got involved in his case.
What actually happened? Let’s take a look at the timeline and resulting back and forth.
A Timeline of the Case
As noted on BBC News, here is an expanded aggregate report of the day by day events of the drama:
June 30th, 2019: The fight that started it all
ASAP Rocky was overseas to perform at the Smash Festival; while walking through the capital of Stockholm, a fight breaks out near a burger joint involving his entourage.
July 3rd, 2019: Arrests Made
ASAP Rocky and two of his entourage were arrested with accusations of aggravated assault. The previous day, ASAP Rocky had posted videos to his social media (which are still online) of two men following the entourage around Stockholm – in which ASAP Rocky can be heard saying he “doesn’t want any trouble.”
July 5th -7th 2019: Pulls out of appearances
After being arrested on July 3rd – ASAP Rocky is held for two weeks by Swedish officials, upsetting his tour and performance plans. Due to perform at the Longitude Festival in Dublin along with the Wireless Festival in London, and the Open’er Festival in Poland – all of whom had to pull in replacement acts for ASAP Rocky’s canceled appearances.
July 9th, 2019: Prison Sucks
TMZ released statements and information from a source citing that the prison in which ASAP Rocky was held had “inhumane” conditions – with their sources saying the representative from the US Consulate that visited ASAP Rocky in jail reported back that the conditions at Kronoberg remand prison were absolutely abhorrent – that “walking into that place was like walking into a toilet.”
The sources told TMZ that ASAP Rocky was forced to sleep on a yoga mat with no blankets, that his cellmate next door hurled feces that were not cleaned up, and that the facility was filthy and “disease-ridden”.
The warden of the prison of course denied those claims – releasing a statement saying that after a recent renovation that everything was in “good condition”, and that all inmates have a bed and television.
July 19th, 2019: The Other Side of the Story
While ASAP Rocky and his entourage mates remain in prison – one of the alleged victims runs afoul of the police and is subsequently investigated for abuse, assault, and attempted assault.
With an eyebrow raised at racism issues – G Eazy took to Instagram in a now-deleted post to talk about his experience with Swedish authorities – the internet reminding everyone that the rapper was treated much differently for a very similar (and arguably more severe) charge of assault, possession of drugs and use of narcotics. G Eazy pled guilty and was sentenced to probation with a ten thousand dollar fine – after spending only a day and a half in jail.
July 19th was a big day for this case – as President Donald Trump also got involved on social media, taking to Twitter to confirm he was working with Kanye West to communicate with the Prime Minister of Sweden to resolve the issue after Swedish authorities elected to hold ASAP Rocky an additional week. President Trump later reacted with a bit of hostility after not being able to secure ASAP Rocky’s immediate release. The Prime Minister responded that ASAP Rocky would be receiving the same treatment for processing as everyone else (except G Eazy, right?) and that political interference would not have any effect.
July 22nd, 2019: The Other Side of the Story Closed
The alleged assault victim’s investigation by Swedish authorities is closed with no additional commentary.
July 24th, 2019: Mom Gets Involved
Swedish press Expressen reaches out to ASAP Rocky’s mother in New York – where she speaks about her worries over her son.
“He was just telling me that he isn’t really eating properly. He can’t wait to get back into the gym. Everything is on video. They tried to avoid it but they kept being followed as well as harassed. Come on, just ball it up and trash it because that’s what it is, trash.”
July 25th, 2019: Formal Charges
After being in a Swedish jail for 3 weeks amidst alleged inhumane conditions – ASAP Rocky is charged with assault causing actual bodily harm and the two members of his entourage are charged with assault by Swedish Authorities.
Daniel Suneson, the Swedish prosecutor, spoke on a Radio 1 Newsbeat interview saying “My evidence consists partly of a number of films that I will play in court. Some are known to the public and some are not,” – referencing CCTV footage – and continuing that the three men had been held so long because of fear they will “leave the country if they were released.”
July 30, 2019: Pleading Not Guilty
ASAP Rocky and his two entourage members plead not guilty to the charges – and the trial begins. Expecting the process to take three days, it is massively delayed on beginning proceedings due to a huge media presence and an interest in the case.
With the media publishing the available details in the case – certain allegations such as a bottle being used in the assault are heard by the general public for the first time.
August 1st, 2019: ASAP Rocky’s Day in Court
In his opening statement to the court, ASAP Rocky states to the Stockholm District Court “There’s a million things that we could have did, but we decided to walk away.” He also testifies that he wants everyone’s name cleared – that they felt threatened by the people involved in the clash in July.
“It got a little scary for us. I couldn’t help but assume that these guys were under the influence of some type of drugs,” he said.
When the video evidence of ASAP Rocky holding the bottle was shown to the court, he testified that it was not used in any sort of assault – but that it was used as a deterrent and he did not use it to harm the alleged victim.
August 2nd, 2019: Home Free
On August 2nd ASAP Rocky was freed to go home – with previous concerns of him fleeing before proceedings concluded apparently being put to bed. The members of his entourage were also released with him.
When asked about the experience, he described it as “difficult and humbling”.
The prosecution called for him to be jailed for six months as a result of the charges.
August 14, 2019: Guilty as Charged
Almost 2 months after his initial arrest ASAP Rocky was found guilty of assault charges related to the Stockholm brawl – but given a suspended sentence.
In the court’s released statement – they commented on the verdict decision that ASAP Rocky and his mates had “assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him as he lay on the ground. The artist has also thrown the victim to the ground and stepped on his arm,” and that the three men were “not in a situation where they were entitled to self-defense.”
The judge concluded the ruling by stating that “the assault has not been of such a serious nature that a prison sentence must be chosen.”
Final Verdict
This man was held in jail for 6 weeks for an ultimate guilty verdict with a statement from a judge that it was not a serious enough crime to warrant prison time – whereas G Eazy was released after a day and a half.
Ok, Sweden. Ok.
Sources:
- https://raptv.com/artist/aap-rocky/
- https://raptv.com/q-and-a/asap-rocky-in-sweden-why-was-he-arrested/
- https://www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-49333962
- https://raptv.com/news/is-kanye-west-running-for-president/
- https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1154502673514684416
- https://www.npr.org/2019/08/03/747833508/rapper-a-ap-rocky-released-from-jail-in-sweden
- https://www.vox.com/2019/8/14/20805311/asap-rocky-sweden-assault-guilty-trump
add comment