The British police force that began investigating the Irish rap group Kneecap after their Glastonbury Festival performance last month has backed down, per the BBC.
In their set, the group doubled down on their long-time support for Palestine and their condemnation of what they’ve controversially called “genocide” by Israel in the region. They also led a vulgar chant against British prime minister Keir Starmer.
On July 18, the BBC reported that the Avon and Somerset Police announced that in following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, it had decided not to take any further action against Kneecap due to “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence.”
Kneecap reportedly called the investigation “political policing intimidation” and said their time on stage was a “celebration of love and solidarity.” They also said, “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close.”
The band’s Glastonbury performance followed months of controversy stemming from their sets at Coachella in April. During both weekends of the California festival, they defended Palestine and blasted Israel as the war in Gaza has killed over 58,000 people and caused “unprecedented” starvation according to its Health Ministry. The count follows the Hamas attacks against Israel of Oct. 7, 2023.
Ahead of Kneecap’s scheduled performance at Glastonbury, Starmer said that the band should be forbidden from playing there. “I think we need to come down really clearly on this,” Starmer said. “This is about the threats that shouldn’t be made, I won’t say too much because there’s a court case on, but I don’t think that’s appropriate.”
Since May, Kneecap’s Mo Chara, born Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, has faced a terror charge in the U.K. for allegedly displaying the Hezbollah flag and yelling, “Up, Hamas, up Hezbollah,” and, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory,” at a November 2024 concert. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are banned in the U.K., and it is a crime to publicly support them.
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Ó hAnnaidh and Kneecap have repeatedly denied the allegations and claimed footage from the concert was “deliberately taken out of all context.” They’ve also suggested the charge was backlash towards their vocal support for Palestine, against the war in Gaza, and and against the U.K. and U.S. governments for funding and supplying it. Chara is currently out on bail ahead of an August 20 court date.
“It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system,” Kneecap’s Móglaí Bap said onstage at Glastonbury. “So if anybody’s available on August 20 at Westminster, we’ll go to support Mo Chara and start a riot outside the courts… that’s for the Daily Mail!” However, he later issued a “disclaimer” on that, saying, “I don’t want anybody to start a riot. No riots, just love and support and more importantly support for Palestine, because that’s what it’s all about.”
