A$AP’s crew beat man on ground: Swedes
Harlem rapper A$AP Rocky and two of his pals kicked a man and struck him with a bottle while he was on the ground during a highly-sensationalized street brawl in Stockholm last month, Swedish prosecutors said in court records released Friday.
The prosecutors charge the Grammy-nominated “Forever” rapper and his entourage “deliberately, together and in agreement” pummeled the man, identified as Mustafa Jafari, in a June 30 street fight in the Swedish capital that has prompted a diplomatic dilemma, with President Trump and a coalition of New
York politicians accusing the Scandinavian nation of injustice.
According to the court papers, Rocky pushed Jafari to the ground before he and his buddies started kicking him. At some point, someone used a bottle to strike Jafari, prosecutors said.
The newly released records include photos of the victim’s cuts and bruises.
Rocky (photo), numerous celebrities and politicians maintain the rapper and his crew were acting in self-defense and Jafari and another man had stalked and harassed them for several blocks before the fracas broke out.
A video posted to Rocky’s Instagram account before the fight shows the rapper and his friends tried for several minutes to get the men to leave them alone.
Manhattan Rep. Adriano Espaillat was not swayed by the prosecutors’ version of events and said Rocky’s video shows the rapper and his friends were “clearly the victims.”
“He’s the aggressor,” Espaillat told the Daily News of Jafari. “He was following them, harassing them and taunting them relentlessly. This guy was a predator.”
“You heard in the footage that he might have even sexually assaulted women,” Espaillat added, referring to allegations made by a woman in the last seconds of Rocky’s Instagram video.
Michael Hardaway, senior adviser to House Democratic Caucus Chairman Hakeem Jeffries (Brooklyn), said his boss also stands by Rocky.
“Expect members of Congress to weigh in forcefully until A$AP Rocky is free,” Hardaway told The News.
Trump, who has said he got involved in the case at the urging of First Lady Melania and hip-hop ally Kanye West, blasted Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven over Twitter after prosecutors officially charged Rocky on Thursday.
“Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act,” the president tweeted. “Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly!”
A spokesman for Löfven pushed back, saying the prime minister couldn’t have played any role in the legal proceedings even if he wanted to becaise the Swedish judicial system has “complete independence” from politics.
Prosecutors are holding Rocky and his pals locked up until their trial, which is expected to begin Tuesday.
Espaillat said relatives of Rocky and his buddies are expected to travel to Sweden to attend the trial.
“We will continue to mobilize and we will continue to advocate for them,” Espaillat said. “Sweden is known as a fair country. I hope the good people of Sweden live up to those standards.”
Rocky faces charges that carry a maximum sentence of two years behind bars.