A fan of the rapper A$AP Rocky has been arrested in Washington DC after allegedly threatening to “blow up” the Swedish embassy there. The rapper is currently jailed in Sweden, awaiting trial for an assault charge after footage emerged of him and his entourage allegedly punching and kicking a pair of men on a Stockholm street.
According to a written statement by a Secret Service officer, Rebecca Kanter is accused of screaming at embassy staff, accosting a group of students visiting the embassy and damaging property. She was arrested after refusing to leave the premises, and charged with wilfully injuring and damaging property of a foreign government, and refusing to depart a foreign embassy. The previous day she had allegedly thrown liquid from a Coca-Cola bottle at the embassy and shouted: “I’m going to blow this motherfucker up.” She wrote on social media that she had “defiled the House of Sweden … why aren’t I getting press for A$AP”. She has been released on bail.
A$AP Rocky’s case has drawn further attention after Donald Trump intervened to put pressure on Sweden to release him. “Sweden has let our African American community down in the United States. Give A$AP Rocky his freedom,” he wrote on Twitter.
Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven responded, saying “in Sweden, everyone is equal before the law”, with Karin Olofsdotter, the Swedish ambassador to the US, affirming: “The government is not allowed, and will not attempt, to influence legal proceedings.” Former prime minster Carl Bildt wrote: “Political interference in the process is distinctly off limits! Clear?”
