Kneecap have jokingly urged fans to gather at Westminster with “a big bag of ket” for their terror charge hearing.
The comments were made during their headline set at Wide Awake 2025, which took place just days after Mo Chara was charged by the Metropolitan Police for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah last year.
The band have denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah and stated that they would not incite or condone violence against any individuals. They have also argued that the footage of the moment had been taken out of context, and branded the legal action as a “carnival of distraction” from the “genocide” taking place.
While on stage at Brockwell Park, the Belfast hip-hop trio addressed the terror charges and described it as a way to “silence” them from “speaking on stage at Glastonbury the way we did at Coachella”.
The nod to Coachella refers to how the members supposedly “blindsided” festival organisers by projecting slogans including “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people” behind them and encouraging the crowd to chant in support of Palestine.
“The fact that I’m speaking to this amount of people, and I assume the majority of people agree, shows that we’re on the right side of history,” Chara said at Wide Awake, before lightheartedly encouraging fans to gather outside the Westminster Magistrates’ Court in June.
“If anybody’s about on June 18 … we’re all going to gather outside the Westminster court to show support, he said, before another member chimed in: “Anybody who’s free on June 18 – get a big bag of ket and we’ll go on the steps of Westminster.”
They also addressed how they have had several festival appearances cancelled – including at Germany’s Hurricane Festival and Southside Festivals, Cornwall’s Eden Project, and a replacement show in Plymouth – as well as how MPs have called to have them removed from the line-ups of TRNSMT, Glastonbury and more.
“They tried to stop this gig,” Kneecap told fans at Wide Awake. “Honestly, lads, you have no idea how close we were to being pulled off this gig.”
While some have criticised Kneecap for their outspoken attitude towards the conflict in Gaza, many musicians have shared their support for the trio and the “freedom of expression”.
Tom Morello, Brian Eno, Pulp, Fontaines D.C. and more recently signed an open letter to protect freedom of expression. Massive Attack, who themselves have boycotted performing in Israel since 1999, also supported the band by saying: “Kneecap are not the story. Gaza is the story. Genocide is the story”.
In other news, Kneecap have dropped their politically-charged new single ‘The Recap’ featuring Mozey.
