The man involved in an altercation with A$AP Rocky that led to the rapper’s arrest and detainment in a Swedish jail will not be charged after he was “suspected of molestation and assault,” Swedish prosecutors announced Monday.
Since the beginning of July, A$AP Rocky and two associates have been held in a Swedish jail after turning themselves in for suspected “gross assault” after allegedly throwing a man across a street in Stockholm late last month. Along with investigating the rapper, the Swedish Prosecution Authority also launched a preliminary investigation into two men who had been following Rocky prior to the incident. A$AP Rocky posted two videos on Instagram of the men allegedly following him, including footage of one of them hitting Rocky’s security with what appeared to be a pair of headphones.
The Swedish Prosecution Authority, however, determined that the man who allegedly threw the headphones was acting in self-defense after A$AP Rocky’s bodyguard allegedly accosted him first. But as TMZ noted, the video of the altercation between Rocky’s bodyguard and the two men does not offer a clear view of how the altercation started, including whether or not the bodyguard pushed him or lifted him up by the throat. And, curiously, Swedish authorities already decided not to detain or charge Rocky’s bodyguard after he was initially arrested.
The official statement from Senior Public Prosecutor Daniel Suneson reads (in what appears to be translated text), “The person who filed the counter-notice repeatedly asks the other person to leave. When he refuses to leave, the other person first pushes him away and then takes a grip around the other person’s neck and lifts him away a few meters. In this situation, the person throws his headphones on the notifier, and tries to hand out battles, which may be considered as right to self-defense.”
A representative for A$AP Rocky did not immediately return a request for comment.
As for the rapper, Swedish authorities are expected to announce whether or not he will be charged this Thursday, July 25th. If charged and convicted, A$AP Rocky could face up to six years in prison.
Back in the U.S., A$AP Rocky’s story has garnered the attention of President Trump after Kim Kardashian and Kanye West reached out to the White House on the rapper’s behalf. Five Democratic representatives, including Adriano Espaillant, Hakeem Jeffries, André Carson and Joaquin Castro, were also previously in touch with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, urging him to provide more assistance.