Guilty.

Swedish court found Rakim Mayers aka A$AP Rocky and his bodyguards guilty of assault for his role in the June 30th street brawl. The court says the 3 defendants are sentenced to “conditional sentences,” which means no prison time in Sweden unless they commit a similar offense in that country. A$AP also has to pay a $1310 fine to his victim Mustafa Jafari although the victim asked for $16,000.

Why didn’t A$AP get a stronger sentence?  The prosecutor originally wanted at least 6 months in jail (out of a possible 2 year maximum sentence) but couldn’t meet his burden off proof by proving a bottle was used in the attack says the lead judge.

Finally, the courts said Rocky and his two bodyguards “were not in a situation” where they were entitled to self-defense because based on the two witness statements, the court found the defendants were not subject to imminent attack,” the judgment said. Interesting enough the prosecutor found that heckler/victim Jafari was entitled to the defense hence why he was not charged with his conduct in the incident. 

However, everyone has watched the video and it is clear that Jafari threatened Rocky’s personal space by following him, getting in his face and touching him prior to Rocky throwing him on the ground so I do not agree with the courts finding. Rocky clearly met the standard of the “duty to retreat” but was still followed and was imminent danger as a public figure being followed by an unknown person willing to get in his personal space to possibly cause harm which easily establishes the “imminent danger” standard.

The issue also became a topic of U.S.-Swedish diplomatic conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump intervened on behalf of the rapper while he was jailed, sent in his own representative during the trial and even called on Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven personally guarantee his bail, but the Swedish leader said he couldn’t interfere in a legal case. Trump later cheered the release of Mayers and his bodyguards.

What do you think about the final verdict?