President Donald Trump appears to now be treating A$AP Rocky's detainment in Sweden as an international hostage crisis.
According to the New York Times, the Commander in Chief sent over "two members of his entourage," which included "the president’s special envoy for hostage affairs," Robert C. O'Brien, to be present at the 30-year-old rapper's trial in Sweden on Tuesday (July 30).
"The president asked me to come here and support these American citizens," Mr. O’Brien said in an interview. "I’ll be here until they come home." It's not yet known how long Mr. O'Brien will remain in Sweden.
As fans know, A$AP, along with his co-defendants, Bladimir Emilio Corniel and David Tyrone Rispers, pleaded not guilty as their assault trial commenced on Tuesday, claiming they acted in self-defense during a street fight that occurred earlier this month. The "Pups" rapper, who was taken into police custody in Stockholm on July 3, is accused of assaulting 19-year-old Mustafa Jafari during the scuffle, which was caught on camera.
A$AP's arrest caused immediate outrage as footage shows that the rapper and his crew were not the aggressors in the situation. One of those who continues to express his alleged outrage over the situation is President Trump. On Friday (July 25), hours after a Swedish prosecutor filed charges against A$AP, Trump took to Twitter to express his disappointment in their decision and additionally call out Sweden's Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for not stepping in to help with the case.
"Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act," he wrote. "Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly! #FreeRocky." He later added, "Give A$AP Rocky his FREEDOM. We do so much for Sweden but it doesn’t seem to work the other way around. Sweden should focus on its real crime problem! #FreeRocky."
The tweets came after POTUS publicly asked for A$AP's freedom in a press conference. "Many, many members of the African-American community have called me, friends of mine, and said could you help? I personally don’t know A$AP Rocky, but I can tell you that he has tremendous support from the African-American community in this country," he said. "And when I say African-American, I think I can really say from everybody in this country, because we’re all one."
Rocky's trial could continue on Thursday and Friday, though it's undecided at this time, CBS News reports. He faces two years behind bars if convicted.
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