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SWEDISH PROSECUTORS HAVE dropped an investigation into one of the men involved in a street brawl with US rapper A$AP Rocky, saying the man was acting in self defence.
The fight between two men and A$AP Rocky and his entourage in Stockholm on 30 June led to the 3 July arrest of the rapper, who has been detained since on suspicion of assault.
Parts of the brawl were captured on a video published by US celebrity news outlet TMZ which showed the rapper tossing a young man to the ground.
But the 30-year-old New York rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, posted his own videos on Instagram showing the lead-up to the clash.
In those videos the young man can be seen arguing with the rapper, who repeatedly asks the man and his friend to stop following them.
The young man can also be seen hitting the rapper’s large bodyguard with a pair of headphones.
Following Mayers’ arrest, the bodyguard filed a counter-complaint against the man claiming to be a victim, accusing him of harassment and assault.
However the Swedish Prosecution Authority announced today it was dropping the investigation, saying the man’s actions were in self defence as he was being pushed and that the bodyguard – or “counter-plaintiff” – had grabbed his throat.
“In this situation the person throws his headphones at the counter-plaintiff and tries to punch, which can be considered part of his right to self-defence,” prosecutor Daniel Suneson said in a statement.
The investigation has been ongoing alongside a probe into Mayers, who is suspected of assault but has not been charged.
‘Flight risk’
On 5 July the Stockholm District Court ordered that Mayers be kept in custody for two weeks while the case was investigated as the rapper was considered a “flight risk”.
Last Friday, the prosecutor requested more time to finish the investigation and was granted a extension until Thursday.
Since his arrest, fans, fellow artists and US Congress members have campaigned for the artist to be freed.
US President Donald Trump also weighed in on the case over the weekend by contacting Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Lofven.
Trump on Saturday tweeted that Lofven had assured him that A$AP Rocky would be “treated fairly”.
“Likewise, I assured him that A$AP was not a flight risk and offered to personally vouch for his bail, or an alternative,” Trump added.
Lofven’s press secretary Toni Eriksson confirmed that the call had taken place and told AFP that “the Prime Minister was careful to point out that the Swedish justice system is completely independent”.
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Oppressively Warm is environmentalist speak for lovely weather ahead this weekend.
They really are such a hap hap happy bunch of non-doomsday and rational thinking folk (not)
What a load of tosh.. A weather warning for night time temperatures of between 11 and 16 degrees for a few days.. Although the weather has been warm lately there has been a persistent cool eastern breeze and it’s making the evening very cool.. A weather warning for not even normal summer weather..
A big angry looking sun as the caption photo!
Effing pathetic. And to think of all the gullible eejits devouring this garbage. 11 to 16 degrees in the middle of June, omg!!
@HP M: at night.
Thank god. Tired of cold weather. The cold Spring was a drag. C’mon global warming do your job.
Come back Evelyn Cusack all is forgiven.
Humidity – which is the amount of water vapour in the air – and ground temperature are not interlinked. So, you can have a relatively low temperature like sixteen degrees but very high humidity levels at the same time. This is what makes for muggy conditions when people complain about it being very “close”. You don’t need a degree in meteorology to understand this.
Its called summer, has happened before.
Not falling for this “Met Éireann”. We all know you’re in the pocket of Big Weather. George Soros. Bill Gates etc…
Quick, kill some cows to bring it down
A night time temperature of 11 degrees… you’d need a light jacket at that temperature! Oppressively warm! What a joke
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