A$AP Rocky, giving the double. (Photo by Steven Lawton/Getty Images)
As operations of criminal justice go, this is fine. I can be fine with this. It’s not ideal, but it could have been worse.
Acclaimed performer A$AP Rocky was found guilty by a court in Sweden of assault, but will face no additional jail time. A$AP Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, and members of his entourage were arrested and charged with assault in Stockholm, after a street altercation. Mayers claims that he was harassed by two men and one woman, which resulted in a fight of self-defense. The woman claims that a member of Mayers’s group grabbed her backside, which resulted in a confrontation during which Mayers’s group became violent.
The case gained national and international attention after Kim Kardashian and Kanye West and Donald Trump became involved, but I refuse to care about that aspect and you can’t make me.
What I do see is a complicated case. You have a famous person claiming he was harassed on the streets, and I have no reason not to believe him. You have a woman claiming she was inappropriately touched, and I have no reason not to believe her. And you have an “aftermath” video of Rocky and friends throwing a 19-year-old to the ground and giving him a few punches, and I have no reason to not believe my own eyes.
Look at this case from the perspective of Swedish authorities. One of the alleged victims, Mustafa Jafari, is a Muslim immigrant. Unlike in our country, Sweden is interested in making their Muslim community feel safe and protected. From their perspective, an American (and you have to remember that internationally being an “American” tourist is one of the dumbest things you can be) attacked one of their vulnerable communities in the street. And his only defense amounts to “they started it.” My gut tells me that Mayers got railroaded a bit here, but if I think about it from the Swedish perspective, I kind of see why. And again, I don’t think a bunch of other American celebrities and our international embarrassment of a president did anything to make the Swedish authorities feel more positively disposed to A$AP Rocky.
But, they did release him. And, while a “guilty” verdict stings, it’s not like they demanded that he be extradited back to Sweden to serve additional jail time. The court ruled that the assault was not “of such a serious nature” that it demanded more punishment. That’s pretty much as close as a court can come to saying “what you did was wrong so… don’t do it again.”
Given all the factors at play, again, this seems fine. A$AP Rocky is home and free. Sweden has stood up for its Muslim community. Nobody has international egg on their faces. For a criminal justice outcome, this isn’t bad.
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and a contributor at The Nation. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.