Kneecap member Mo Chara charged with terrorism in UK
A member of Irish hip-hop group Kneecap is being charged with terrorism after allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag during a concert.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who goes by the stage name Mo Chara, was charged May 21 with a terrorism offense, according to a release from the U.K.'s Metropolitan Police.
The charge follows an investigation by the police's Counter Terrorism Command unit into a November concert at the O2 Forum in London. Ó hAnnaidh allegedly displayed a flag that, according to police, created a "reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter" of Hezbollah, a militant group based out of Lebanon.
The police said they were made aware of the incident in April after videos of the concert circulated online. Ó hAnnaidh's first court appearance is scheduled for June 18.
In a statement on their Instagram, the band chided the British "establishment" and called the charge "a carnival of distraction."
"14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of the wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us," they wrote. "We deny this 'offence' and will vehemently defend ourselves."
"This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is," the statement continued. "As they profit from genocide, they use an 'anti-terror law' against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage."
Born of Belfast, Kneecap mixes English and Irish rap, and centers much of their music around working-class struggles and the battle for a reunified Ireland. They have long been outspoken against the state of Israel, a not uncommon belief in Northern Ireland, many of whose residents see themselves as parallel to some residents of Gaza, fighting a claimed occupied power.
"A charge not serious enough to even warrant their 'crown court', instead a court that doesn't have a jury. What's the objective?" the statement continued. "To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists to dare speak out.
"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," the statement continued, in apparent reference to the U.K.'s close allied relationship with Israel.
"The, like now, they claim justification. The IDF units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists, the whole world can see it," they said, concluding, "We stand proudly with the people. You stand complicit with the war criminals. We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in court. We will win. Free Palestine."