Today is the second day of ASAP Rocky’s assault trial in Sweden, and this morning, he has taken the stand, according to multiple reporters on the scene.
ASAP Rocky in court, in drawing form, day two. He's in green again. pic.twitter.com/J6fQ6dbpcR
— Alex Marshall (@alexmarshall81) August 1, 2019
On the stand, Rocky reportedly shared his account of what happened. British reporter Maddy Savage says that Rocky said he wanted to explore Stockholm while in Sweden for a concert, and while he was trying to download an app on his phone to rent an electric scooter, Rocky’s accuser, Mustafa Jafari, and another man approached his security guard. The two walked away, but soon came back. USA Today international correspondent Kim Hjelmgaard reports that Rocky said that after that, “Next thing I know, my security guard was lifting one of them [Jafari]” by his neck or collar bone.
He's told the court he was in Sweden for a gig and they wanted to take a walk around to see Stockholm. His group was planning to take electric scooters back to their hotel just ahead of the fight.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
They were outside Max to try and get the app to hire electric scooters. He sat down on a bench and then 2 men approached his security guard.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
The men walked away and then "moments later they came back" and started to talk more to the security guard #ASAPRocky tells the court. The guard asked them to move away, and pushed them away.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
These two men, one of them Mustafa Jafari, started talking to his security guard, who asked them to go away. “Next thing I know, my security guard was lifting one of them (Jafari)” by his neck/collar bone. He says their behaviour was “really weird” and it “got a little scary”
— Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) August 1, 2019
Hjelmgaard also quotes Rocky as saying of Jafari, “He was fearless, his eyes were all weird, he came up to a big bodyguard and asked us questions he knew we couldn’t answer. He looked like he was on drugs.”
Rapper says he thought the men who approached them were on drugs. He said he wanted to diffuse the situation and get away, not provoke them. "We don't want no problems, we don't want no beef" he says he told them.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
Rocky reportedly said he saw Jafari hit his security guard with headphones, and then asked for them back before it was explained that they were broken. New York Times European culture reporter Alex Marshall notes that at this point, Rocky said he was “really scared” due to him being in a foreign country and due to the situation he was in.
#ASAPRocky says alleged victim asked for his headphones back, but he explained they had been broken (by alleged victim). Says they kept being followed by alleged victim and his friends and kept asking to be left alone. At this point they were "really scared".
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
Rocky's saying he was "really scared" as he was in a foreign country and the people wouldn't leave
— Alex Marshall (@alexmarshall81) August 1, 2019
Rocky reportedly also said that he did pick up a bottle, so Jafari couldn’t get his hands on it. He insisted that he only held it “momentarily” before realizing it was “stupid” to be holding it and putting it down.
#ASAPRocky says they saw bottles on the ground and they didn't want the people following them to have these. Then some "African" girls came along and tried to help the situation. His group told the girls to ask the followers to stop following them. The followers ignored them.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
#ASAPRocky says he held a bottle "momentarily" and then put it down after he realised it was "stupid" to have it in his hand. Says bodyguard asked girls to ring police because they didn't have the number for police in Sweden. They tried to get an Uber but couldn't
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
Before things got physical, Rocky said he “begged” Jafari and the other man to leave them alone, because he didn’t want any trouble.
#ASAPRocky said he and his crew "begged" alleged victim and his friend to go away. Said he didn't want any problems or to end up in jail.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
Rocky apparently said that the physical altercation began with Jafari and the other man attacking his security guard first, saying, “Both of the guys attacked him, that’s when I intervened.” Rocky reportedly admitted that during the altercation, “I threw Jafafi to the ground, and I shoved him.” He said that he then tried to “calm him down” by kicking his arm and holding him down.
He said that after the incident, he and his crew went back to their hotel and thought about whether or not they wanted to press charges, ultimately deciding against it to avoid disrupting their tour or drawing attention to the incident.
ASAP Rocky's now claiming the two men attacked his security guard first, THEN he attacked Jafari and the fight broke out "Both of the guys attacked him, that's when I intervened."
— Alex Marshall (@alexmarshall81) August 1, 2019
"I threw Jafafi to the ground" #ASAPRocky admits "and I shoved him". Then his friends came to help, and his bodyguard. Says he stood up then and turned around and saw Jafari's friend "charging at me". Said they pushed and shoved for a bit. Then security guard walked crew away.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
Rocky's said after he threw the plaintiff he tried to "calm him down" by kicking his arm and holding him down before his friends arrived. There's a lot of discussion about what he did and what counts at punching. And with that, it's been 90 minutes, so they've stopped
— Alex Marshall (@alexmarshall81) August 1, 2019
#ASAPRocky says crew got back to hotel and he started contemplating what had happened. "Do I want to press charges?" he thought. He decided it was best not to, didn't want to attract attention to the fight or miss his tour.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
Beyond that, Rocky said that he doesn’t remember all the details from the night of the incident, since it was about a month ago at this point.
A few times as he’s been questioned by Swedish prosecutors #ASAPRocky has said that he can’t recall all the details of the fight on July 3 in Stockholm that led to his assault charge. He says it was a month ago
— Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) August 1, 2019
Hjelmgaard reports that “some potentially incriminating text messages” were shown in court, and that a text supposedly sent by his assistant reads, “Harlem came out and smashed a bottle on a person,” with “Harlem” allegedly referring to Rocky, a New York native. Prosecutors say another message reads, “I hope rocky deleted all the videos on his phone and kept only the one.” Rocky reportedly responded to the messages by saying he doesn’t want to speculate about their meaning, and that prosecutors should ask his assistant, his manager, and his security guard about them, as they were all messaging each other.
We’re seeing some potentially incriminating text messages now that prosecutors are implying were sent by #ASAPRocky’s assistant: “Harlem came out and smashed a bottle on a person.” The implication is that “Harlem” is #ASAPRocky. He’s from New York
— Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) August 1, 2019
Another message, according to prosecutors, sent by his assistant: “I hope rocky deleted all the videos on his phone and kept only the one” #ASAPRocky
— Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) August 1, 2019
#ASAPRocky’s response to these messages is he doesn’want to speculate about what they mean and prosecutors need to ask his assistant, his manager and his security guard, all of whom were messaging one another. He says video he put out was intended to “counter” TMZ footage
— Kim Hjelmgaard (@khjelmgaard) August 1, 2019
Rocky also reportedly said that the reason he decided to post his videos of the incident was to share his perspective after TMZ published a video of the altercation. He said the video was edited to remove instances of the “N word.”
Says the only reason he posted a video of the fight on his Instagram is because TMZ had already put its version of events online. #ASAPRocky says the edits in his film were due to taking out the 'N' word.
— Maddy Savage (@maddysavage) August 1, 2019
The trial is ongoing, and if Rocky is found guilty, he could face up to two years in prison.
