'We will fight you in your court. We will win' - Kneecap slams 'political policing' after terror charge

22 May 2025, 10:25 by Keith Kelly, https://www.thejournal.ie/author/keith-kelly/ · TheJournal.ie

IRISH RAP GROUP Kneecap have released a statement condemning what they call a “carnival of distraction” after one of its members was charged with a terror offence in Britain.

Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who uses the stage name Mo Chara, is charged with displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organisation in Britain.

The 27-year-old Belfast native is to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 June.

The charge is based on footage taken at one of the group’s concerts in the O2 Forum, Kentish Town in London, where Ó hAnnaidh is allegedly seen holding a Hezbollah flag.

He is being charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act, under Section 13 (1) which says that “A person in a public place commits an offence if he a) wears an item of clothing or b) wears, carries or displays an article, in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation.”

The Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charge after a review of the footage.

Kneecap issued a strong rebuke of the charge in a statement to social media this morning, describing it as “political policing”.

“14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us,” it began.

“We deny this ‘offence’ and will vehemently defend ourselves.

“This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction.”

The statement goes on to question the motivation for the charge, which will be heard before a non-jury court. “What’s the objective?”

The rap trio came to prominence for their outspokenness on the humanitarian situation in Gaza during their Coachella performance last month in which they displayed political messages on large screens including ”F*** Israel Free Palestine” along with the claim that genocide in the Gaza Strip was “being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes”.

This morning’s statement went on to accuse the British establishment of purposely seeking to restrict the group’s travel, prevent them spreading their message to young people around the world and to “silence voices of compassion”.

“Instead of defending innocent people, or the principles of international law they claim to uphold, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries.

“Then, like now, they claim justification.”