In court on gun charges: A$AP Rocky pleads not guilty

American rapper A$AP Rocky (“Praise the Lord”), who is due to appear in court for an alleged assault with a firearm, has denied responsibility for the incident. The musician and partner of pop star Rihanna (35) has pleaded not guilty before a judge in Los Angeles, American media reported on Monday (local time). His attorney, Joe Tacopina, said after the hearing, according to Deadline.com, that he would show in the trial that the rapper was “truly innocent.”

The charges relate to an incident in Hollywood in November 2021. The rapper, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, is accused of pulling out a gun and shooting him during an argument with an acquaintance. According to media reports, the victim suffered minor injuries.

In April 2022, the rapper was briefly taken into custody in Los Angeles for this reason. In August, he was charged with an alleged assault with a firearm. In November, the court ruled that there was sufficient evidence for a trial. The musician has always denied the accusations.

A$AP Rocky, who has two young children with Rihanna, was convicted of assault in 2019 after a violent incident in Sweden. He was in custody for about four weeks, but managed to avoid a longer prison sentence. This was preceded by a fight in Stockholm, in which the musician and two of his companions beat up a man in the street. (sda/dpa)