Will Kim Kardashian and other stars defend A$AP Rocky this time?

For the second time in less than three years, A$AP Rocky has been arrested in connection with a street fight.

As his pregnant girlfriend, Rihanna. reportedly looked on, the 33-year-old rapper was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport Wednesday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon. Police allege he shot at an acquaintance during an argument that took place in Hollywood in November.

In 2019, Rocky’s assault case in Sweden exploded into an international cause célèbre that saw Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Jada Pinkett Smith and other stars, as well as members of congress, urging then-President Donald Trump and the State Department to push for his release. Kardashian used her criminal justice reform connections with the Trump administration to lobby on Rocky’s behalf.

Will Rocky garner that kind of sympathy and lobbying this time, especially because Rihanna is about to give birth? Or has Rocky exhausted the goodwill of his fellow A-listers, as well as the public?

So far, it appears there are questions about whether Los Angeles police have been heavy-handed in their handling of the latest assault case involving Rocky, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, according to TMZ.

A swarm of officers suddenly surrounded him in a private terminal at LAX and took him away in handcuffs, instead of giving him a heads-up and allowing him to surrender on his own, which apparently is an LAPD practice, TMZ reported. Rocky and Rihanna, 34, were returning from vacation in her native Barbados.

Rapper A$AP Rocky was taken into custody in connection to a November 2021 shooting as he arrived from Barbados to the Los Angeles International Airport, NBC News reported https://t.co/Mbgg7OAuiL pic.twitter.com/GFeESYwCuB

— Reuters (@Reuters) April 21, 2022

“This drama is the last thing Rihanna needs right now,” a source told Entertainment Tonight. “She wants to be mellow, relaxed, and focused 100 percent on the arrival of her baby — not stressing out!”

The source said, “This arrest was not something they saw coming.”

Police also searched Rocky’s home near West Hollywood, reportedly for the gun used in the assault. One of his neighbors complained that it was “so excessive” for SWAT officers to use a battering ram to break into his property, a New York Times reporter shared on Twitter. “[I]t was like they came for Capone,” the neighbor said. “I’m frankly offended by it … seems so inappropriate … he’s a great neighbor.”

ASAP Rocky neighbor tells me SWAT team w weapons drawn came to search rapper’s home near W. Hollywood this a.m.: “so excessive…it was like they came for Capone…I’m frankly offended by it…seems so inappropriate…he’s a great neighbor”

vid of battering ram/cop falling via TMZ pic.twitter.com/KpgfvTNGBt

— Joe Coscarelli (@joecoscarelli) April 20, 2022

Others might question why such trouble keeps following Rocky. Shouldn’t he have learned his lesson in 2019 and shouldn’t he be doing everything possible to stay out of more trouble?

His arrest in Stockholm in June 2019 stirred up a massive political fuss, as the Los Angeles Times reported at the time. According to reports, he and his entourage got into a fight with a couple men who they say had been following them for blocks. One video of the fight showed Rocky grabbing one of the men by his shirt or shoulders and throwing him across the street, while members of his crew started hitting and kicking the man, the Los Angeles Times said. Rocky’s team said he acted in self-defense and tried to defuse the situation.

Rocky was held in custody for a month without formal charges being filed, as Swedish authorities investigated the case. Fans decried a miscarriage of justice and launched a petition drive that garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures. Celebrities joined in calling for his release with the “#FreeASAPRocky” hashtag. In addition to Kardashian, West and Pinkett Smith, his supporters included Justin Bieber, Nicki Minaj, Tyler the Creator and Naomi Campbell.