A$AP Rocky's Gun Assault Case: Surveillance Video of Rapper Holding Firearm Shown in Court

The "Praise the Lord" rapper was charged with two counts of assault with a firearm and will potentially face trial

A$AP Rocky sat in a Los Angeles courtroom with his defense team on Wednesday intently watching surveillance footage of himself holding a gun and possibly firing at his former friend.

The video, which was made public for the first time during the criminal trial hearing, comes after the 35-year-old rapper (real name Rakim Mayers) pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault with a firearm in August 2022.

This stems from a Nov. 6, 2021 incident where Rocky is alleged to have pointed a semi-automatic handgun at his former friend and plaintiff A$AP Relli (real name Terell Ephron) and fired multiple times after a "heated discussion" in Hollywood, California.

A photo of Relli's minor injuries displayed in the courtroom showed small patches of raw, bloody skin on the knuckles of his index, middle and ring fingers on his left hand. The entire incident was captured by nearby surveillance cameras.

According to legal documents obtained by PEOPLE, Relli filed a civil suit for assault, battery and emotional distress against Rocky on Aug. 10, 2022.

Rocky (who has two children — sons RZA, 18 months, and Riot, 3 months — with his partner, pop superstar Rihanna, 35) has denied all claims.

In his answer to the civil complaint, his attorneys wrote, "Defendant generally denies each and every allegation of the complaint, and specifically denies that Plaintiff has been damaged in any amount or in any way as a result of any act or omission of answering defendant. The injuries and/or damages complained of in the complaint, if any, were caused solely, directly and proximately by the negligent and/or intentional acts or omissions of person other than answering defendant."

Relli — a former fellow member of the hip-hop collective A$AP Mob — claimed he was struck by bullet fragments after the argument, and said in court Wednesday that he sought necessary medical attention at a hospital in New York City. The two men were childhood friends and went to high school together in New York.

“We were really cool. We were chill all the time,” Relli recalled on the stand, before stating that tension started to build when Rocky found solo success and became "big-headed."

After their friend and Mob member A$AP Josh died in October 2021, Relli testified that his mother asked for financial help to bring his body back to New York and that Rocky promised to financially help via group text. Although defense attorney Joseph Tacopina claimed Rocky did pay in full, at the time Relli didn't believe this happened, he told the court.

A month later — and days before Rocky was headlining ComplexCon — Relli said he overheard Rocky badmouthing him on speakerphone to another friend and decided to end their friendship. “Truthfully, it felt good. I was mentally preparing myself to leave and don’t need that stigma or type of people. [Rocky] was never going to help,” Relli said on Wednesday.

On Nov. 6, 2021, he flew to Los Angeles and around 10 p.m. decided to meet up with Rocky at the W Hotel in West Hollywood to try to work things out.

He told the court that he later spotted Rocky with his two friends Illijah Ulanga (A$AP Illz) and Jamil Phillips (A$AP Twelvyy) in front of a parking garage on Hollywood Boulevard. Surveillance video shown in the courtroom appeared to show Rocky walking toward Relli and shoving him.

"He grabbed me on my collar. He was shaking me. I tried to push him off, get his hands off,” Relli said in the courtroom. “That’s when [Rocky] pulled a gun from his waistband. It was a standard clip and a semi-automatic black gun.”

“He pointed it toward my stomach,” Relli continued. “I’ll kill you right now,” he alleged that Rocky said to him.

“Oh, he was angry," he continued. "He had [the gun] pressed up against me, to my chest then head.”

“I said, ‘Shoot it’ because I was mad," added Relli. "I said ‘Why you bring a gun if you not going to use it?’ I would never bring a weapon. Not in that situation."

Related: A$AP Rocky Pleads Not Guilty to Assault with Firearm Charges

The surveillance footage (with no sound) then showed the group of men involved in an altercation on the corner of Selma Avenue and Vista Del Mar Avenue in Hollywood.

“Rocky turned around and shot at me,” Relli claimed Wednesday, noting he was approximately 16 feet from him. “It all looked like a movie.” He continued to testify that Rocky shot "three or four" more times at Relli, who said he used A$AP Illz as a human shield.

The video ended with one member of the group sprinting away as the two other men fled on foot after the gun was allegedly fired. About an hour later, Relli testified, he went back to the scene to retrieve two 9mm shell casings from the incident. Under cross-examination, Relli admitted that he didn’t call 911 until two days later because he wanted to retain a lawyer first.

Rocky was subsequently arrested at Los Angeles International Airport on April 20, 2022, and was released on bail the same day, per the Los Angeles Times. He was returning on a private plane from Barbados, where he was vacationing with Rihanna (who was not present in court on Wednesday) — only a few weeks before the birth of the couple's first son RZA. Rocky was later released after posting a $550,000 bond, according to the outlet.

Following the arrest, Los Angeles police detectives searched the rapper's home seeking evidence concerning the case. According to the Los Angeles Times, detectives had the artist under surveillance for some time and tracked his return from the island.

Related: A$AP Rocky Charged After Allegedly Shooting Former Friend A$AP Relli During Argument in Hollywood

Relli's lawyers claimed in the civil complaint that Rocky's conduct was "extreme and outrageous" and caused their client to suffer "severe emotional distress." Relli is suing for more than $25,000 in general damages, additional money to cover his medical bills and punitive damages of an unspecified amount in civil court.

In a full day of testimony that turned so argumentative Judge M.L. Villar ordered a 10-minute break, Relli claimed he was the victim of an ambush and was shot at three or four times by the defendant. "But I would never be scared of Rocky," he said during cross-examination. "We knew each other for years. I'm not scared of him."

Rocky and two members of his entourage had previously been convicted of aggravated assault in Sweden when he was in Stockholm for a festival performance in the summer of 2019.

Related: A$AP Rocky Found Guilty of Assault in Sweden But Won't Face Additional Jail Time

The rapper returned to Instagram in August 2019, shortly after the verdict was announced, posting a photo of himself captioned: "Thank you from the bottom of my heart to all of my fans, friends and anyone across the globe who supported me during these last few weeks. I can't begin to describe how grateful I am for all of you. This has been a very difficult and humbling experience. I want to thank the court for allowing me, Bladi and Thoto to return to our family and friends. Thanks again for all of the love and support."

During the lunch break on Wednesday, A$AP Rocky told a reporter, "You know, I'm wearing a vintage tie, it makes me feel like a dad." As he huddled with his legal team after court — still sporting a blue face mask — he told PEOPLE he was "feeling good." Outside he posed for selfies with fans and signed a photographer's shoe.

Judge Villar ordered Rocky back in court on Nov. 20 to finish the hearing.

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