This archive report was first published on 5 August 2019.
A$AP Rocky, the 30-year-old rapper, has been released from a Swedish jail after a month-long detention for his involvement in a street brawl. He was spotted arriving back in the US on Saturday, wearing a designer head scarf and sunglasses.
Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, was released from Stockholm District Court on Friday with his attorney Martin Persson. He took a night flight on a private jet from Arlanda airport and landed in the early hours of Saturday.
His friends loaded luggage into SUVs as he arrived at Los Angeles International Airport. They stayed inside the airport for about 15 minutes before emerging and hanging around talking and laughing in celebration for about 45 minutes outside.
Rocky's release comes after the US warned of negative consequences if he wasn't freed. The US special presidential envoy for hostage affairs, Amb. Robert O'Brien, wrote a letter to prosecutors on Wednesday stating that the US government wanted to resolve the case as soon as possible to avoid potentially negative consequences to the US-Swedish bilateral relationship.
Rocky and his co-defendants, David Rispers Jr and Bladimir Corniel, were accused of using more violence than was needed to break up a brawl involving the plaintiff, 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari. However, Rocky's mother claimed last month that the arrest may have been racially motivated.
Rocky has vowed not to return to Sweden, following in the footsteps of Snoop Dogg who also opted to dodge Sweden after his DUI arrest in Uppsala in 2015. Rapper Quavo has also vowed not to return to Sweden after being held on the ground and almost arrested shortly after arriving in the country.
