Kneecap will reportedly not face any further action for their alleged past comments against Conservative MPs – find out more below.
In May, it was reported that a video from a Kneecap concert in 2023 was under investigation by counter-terrorism police. It was claimed that the video in question contained footage one of the West Belfast trio allegedly said to the crowd: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
It was one of two videos being assessed by counter-terrorism police – the other video allegedly sees the group’s Mo Chara shouting, “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, while also displaying a Hezbollah flag onstage, in support of Palestine in the ongoing Gaza-Palestine genocide.
Mo Chara appeared at the Westminster Magistrates Court on June 18, where he was granted unconditional bail for the alleged Hezbollah-related charge, and will appear again in person at the court in August.
Now, in a statement to the Irish Times, a rep for the Metropolitan Police have said of the “Kill your local MP” case: “A thorough investigation has now been completed by detectives from the Counter Terrorism Command, which included interviewing an individual under caution and seeking early investigative advice from the Crown Prosecution Service. A range of offences were considered as part of the investigation.”
The rep continued: “However, given the time elapsed between the events in the video and the video being brought to police attention, any potential summary only offences were beyond the statutory time limit for prosecution. Relevant indictable offences were considered by the investigation team and, based on all of the current evidence available, a decision has been made that no further action will be taken at this time.”
Additionally, the Met Police rep also told the Irish Times that it understands the “impact this decision may have” on MPs. “The safety and security of MPs is something that is taken extremely seriously across the whole of policing. MPs who may be concerned about their safety can contact their dedicated local Operation Bridger officer, who can provide further advice and support.”
As for the Hezbollah-related terror charge, Kneecap have consistently denied supporting either Hamas or Hezbollah, and said that they do not incite or condone violence. They have also argued that the footage at the UK shows had been taken out of context, and described the legal action as a “carnival of distraction”.
Following the group’s appearance in court earlier this month, Kneecap have just played an incendiary set at Glastonbury 2025, where they took the opportunity to hit out at Keir Starmer, who called on the festival to pull the band from the line-up this weekend.
“Glastonbury, I’m a free man,” declared Chara during the gig, nodding to being given unconditional bail from his first appearance on his terror charge. “Has anyone been watching the news?” he joked soon after, before leading a chant of “Free Mo Chara, free, free Mo Chara”.
“Mo Chara was in court this month,” said member Móglaí Bap. “Was anyone there? Mo Chara’s in court for a trumped up terrorism charge. It’s not the first time there was a miscarriage of justice for an Irish person in the British justice system”.
Chara then turn his focus on first of many attacks on Keir Starmer – who argued that it was “not appropriate” for the band to be appearing at Glastonbury: “The Prime Minister of your country said he didn’t want us to play, so fuck Keir Starmer.”
Bap concluded: “We’ve said it before, the story isn’t about us. It’s about the genocide happening in Palestine. Free, free Palestine.”
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