A Stockholm court found A$AP Rocky guilty of assault on Wednesday, August 14, for his involvement in a headline-making June 30 street brawl.
A panel of four judges said the rapper, 30, and his two bodyguards “were not entitled to use violence in self-defense” and that they had “assaulted the victim by hitting and kicking him,” according to The New York Times. All three defendants were convicted of assault, but spared of further jail time. They were ordered to pay damages to the victim, Mustafa Jafari, for the injuries he sustained in the incident.
Rocky’s defense attorney, Slobodan Jovicic, told reporters outside of the courtroom that he is “disappointed” by the outcome of the trial, stating that he had hoped for a “complete acquittal.” Jovicic said his client has not yet determined whether he plans to appeal the Stockholm District Court’s ruling.
“The question is whether he’ll have the energy and stamina to do this one more time given all the circus around it,” the lawyer told the Times of Rocky (real name Rakim Mayers).
The Grammy nominee was arrested in Sweden on July 3 after he was caught on video violently throwing Jafari, 19, to the ground. His bodyguards then punched and kicked Jafari, whom Rocky claimed had repeatedly harassed his entourage.
“WE DONT KNOW THESE GUYS AND WE DIDNT WANT TROUBLE,” the star wrote on Instagram prior to his arrest.
Rocky spent more than a month behind bars before returning to the U.S. on August 3. The case caught the attention of President Donald Trump and celebrities including Kim Kardashian, Justin Bieber, Jada Pinkett Smith and Shawn Mendes, all of whom supported the viral #JusticeForRocky campaign.
One day after landing in America, the Harlem, New York, native spent time with his ex Kendall Jenner at her brother-in-law Kanye West’s Sunday Service.
