Trump Celebrates the Return of A$AP Rocky

The American rapper returns to US soil
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Aug 3, 2019 10:00 AM CDT
Trump Celebrates the Return of A$AP Rocky
A$AP Rocky, right, leaves the district court after the third day of his trial in Stockholm, Friday, Aug. 2, 2019.   (Fredrik Persson/TT News Agency via AP)

Nearly a month after he was arrested in Sweden, rapper A$AP Rocky returned to the United States as the verdict in an assault case against him and two other Americans looms, the AP reports. Los Angeles television stations reported the 30-year-old artist was among a group of people shown emerging from a private airplane at Los Angeles International Airport in footage broadcast late Friday night. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, had flown out of Stockholm Arlanda Airport on Friday, the same day the trio learned they would be released while judges mull a verdict that's expected Aug. 14. Along with David Rispers Jr. and Bladimir Corniel, the rapper is accused of beating 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari on June 30 outside a fast-food restaurant in central Stockholm.

Mayers, who had been jailed since his July 3 arrest, pleaded not guilty at the start of the three-day trial Tuesday. The case has attracted the attention of prominent figures, from Justin Bieber to President Donald Trump. Trump, who caused a stir in US-Swedish diplomatic relations after publicly offering support to the Grammy-nominated artist, celebrated the temporary release. "It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!" the president said in a tweet. Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven heard an appeal from Trump in July, but said he couldn't interfere in a legal case. During the final day of the trial Friday, one of the witnesses to the assault revised her story from initial police reports that she didn't actually see Mayers hit Jafari with a bottle—a key focus of the case. (See what Trump had said about the rapper's detention.)

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