Irish rap group Kneecap have vowed to ‘vehemently defend themselves’ after a member was charged with terrorism offences by the Metropolitan Police. Liam O’Hanna, 27, who is known as Mo Chara in the Belfast trio, has been accused of displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town on November 21 last year.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18. Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware on April 22 of an online video from the event, the force said. Kneecap are set to headline Wide Awake festival in Brockwell Park on Friday night (May 23).
Videos emerged earlier this month allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’. The group apologised last month to the families of murdered MPs but claimed footage of the incident had been ‘exploited and weaponised’, while they also said they have ‘never supported’ Hamas or Hezbollah, which are both banned organisations in the UK.
This morning (Thursday, May 22), Kneecap issued a statement on social media, describing it as a ‘carnival of distraction’.
“We are not the story. Genocide is,” the group claims “As they profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on the stage.
“What’s the objective? To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us from speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who dare to speak out.
“We stand proudly with the people. You stand complicit with war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in court. We will win. Free Palestine.”
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