Kneecap have responded to concert footage from one of their London gigs being assessed by counter-terror police.
Footage from the Irish-language rap trio’s headline performance at London’s O2 Kentish Town last November appears to show a member shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, as well as a Hezbollah flag being displayed.
Now, counter-terrorism police are assessing footage from this Kneecap show, as Hamas and Hezbollah are both proscribed terror organisations, and it is an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 to “invite support for a proscribed organisation”.
As Sky News reports, a Met Police spokesperson said: “We have been made aware of the video and it has been referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.”
In response, Kneecap shared a post on X/Twitter of a graphic which read “18 Months Of Genocide Footage Not Under Investigation By UK Counter-Terror Police”, with the caption “some facts.”
Some facts 👇 pic.twitter.com/hoVZrqg1hl
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 24, 2025
The image shared by Kneecap in response comes from spoof website Waterford Whispers News, which posted a parody article opening with: “Tens of thousands of hours of video evidence from over 18-months of genocide was ignored by the UK’s counter-terrorism police this week as they turned their resources to investigating footage from a Kneecap concert which took place in November of last year.”
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also shared the concert footage, telling her followers on Twitter/X: “In government I blocked Kneecap getting taxpayer funding. Labour didn’t contest the legal case the band brought and they walked away with £14,250 of OUR money. Perhaps now Labour see Kneecap openly glorifying evil terror groups, they will apologise for rolling over. But I doubt it.”
She was referring to when the Belfast trio originally accused the government of attempting to “silence” them, following a last-minute block in February 2024 of funds from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) funding award – issued under the Music Export Growth Scheme (MEGS) to support the expansion of bands in global markets.
Kneecap alleged that the government had stopped the funding due to their provocative 2019 anti-DUP tour poster, which they claimed “pissed off the Tories”. Then, the court ruled that the move was in fact illegal, and Kneecap have received the £14,250 prize, which they distributed to two charities in Belfast.
“For us this action was never about £14,250, it could have been 50 pence,” said the band in a statement. “The motivation was equality. This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday Agreement itself and an attack on Kneecap and our way of expressing ourselves.”
They went on to say: “The former Secretary of State Kemi Badenoch and her Department acted unlawfully, this is now a fact. They don’t like that we oppose British rule, that we don’t believe that England serves anyone in Ireland and the working classes on both sides of the community deserve better; deserve funding, deserve appropriate mental health services, deserve to celebrate music and art and deserve the freedom to express our culture.
“They broke their own laws in trying to silence Kneecap. The reason for this was they didn’t like our art, in particular our beautiful 2019 tour poster of Boris Johnson on a rocket.
“They didn’t like our views, in particular our opposition to the ‘United Kingdom’ itself and our belief in a United Ireland which is our right to do. They didn’t like the fact that we are totally opposed to all they represent, embodied right now by their arming of genocide in Gaza,” they wrote.
“What they did was a fascist type action, attempt to block art that does not agree with their views after an independent body made a decision. Their own courts has now found in Kneecap’s favour, as we knew they would. They have tried to silence us and they have failed.”
In govt I blocked Kneecap getting taxpayer funding. Labour didn't contest the legal case the band brought and they walked away with £14,250 of OUR money.
Perhaps now Labour see Kneecap openly glorifying evil terror groups, they will apologise for rolling over. But I doubt it. https://t.co/FbI58UrkBs
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) April 22, 2025
Speaking to MailOnline, a Community Security Trust spokesperson said: “Hizbollah is a dangerous terrorist organisation with a long record of violence and terror, both targeting Jews around the world and in Syria during the civil war.
“Hamas is a banned terrorist group responsible for appalling atrocities on October 7, including the slaughter, rape and kidnapping of music lovers at the Nova festival.
“It is utterly disgraceful for them to be lauded from a London stage, with the whole crowd encouraged to show their support. We fully expect the police to investigate this thoroughly and take appropriate action.”
Kneecap were unable to comment further on the video or investigation, but this comes after the group spoke out after controversy around their sets at Coachella, and calls from Sharon Osbourne to revoke their working visas. Their two sets at the festival reportedly left organisers “blindsided” due to their overtly political nature, including showing pro-Palestine projections on the screen behind them and encouraging the audience to chat “Free, Free Palestine”.
Kneecap have since called the controversy “a coordinated smear campaign” against their efforts in “exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.
“For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes,” they continued. “The recent attacks against us, largely emanating from the US, are based on deliberate distortions and falsehoods,” they said, adding that they are “taking action against several of these malicious efforts”.
“The reason Kneecap is being targeted is simple — we are telling the truth, and our audience is growing,” the statement read.
“Those attacking us want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponize false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide,” bringing up “massive numbers of Jewish people” who are “outraged by this genocide just as we are”.
“What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes — and we will not stay silent. No media spin will change this,” they wrote.
“Our only concern is the Palestinian people — the 20,000 murdered children and counting.”
They praised the audiences at their shows, saying that they “see through the lies” and “stand on the side of humanity and justice.”
“And that gives us hope,” they concluded.
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
Since our statements at Coachella — exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people — we have faced a coordinated smear campaign.
For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments' complicity in war crimes.… pic.twitter.com/mBojb5QBOP
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 25, 2025
Speaking to Rolling Stone earlier this week, Kneecap’s Mo Chara said the band speak about Palestine “at every single gig since the band’s formation, long before October 2023 as the oppression and brutal occupation of Palestine has been ongoing for 77 years”.
He said: “We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza.
“As I said from the stage, ‘The U.S. government could stop the genocide tomorrow.’ It’s important that young Americans hear and know it.”
He also addressed claims that the group are “anti-Israel”, saying: “Israel has murdered over 52,000 Palestinians in Gaza in the last 18 months, mostly women and children. They have obliterated much of the Gaza Strip with U.S.-supplied weapons and are currently starving over 2 million Gazans.
“People can make their own decisions about whether our message is anti-Israel, but for us, it’s about their government’s sickening actions, not ordinary people.”
Sharon Osbourne criticised Kneecap’s appearances at Coachella, writing a lengthy post on X claiming that the sets “compromised” the festival’s “moral and spiritual integrity”.
She also called for the trio to have their working visas revoked due to the performances. Chara also responded to Osbourne’s comments, saying: “Her rant has so many holes in it that it hardly warrants a reply, but she should listen to ‘War Pigs’ that was written by Black Sabbath.”
The nod to Black Sabbath comes as her husband Ozzy Osbourne, is the band’s frontman. The band then shared another statement with BBC News Northern Ireland about Osbourne’s comments adding: “Statements aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.”
A spokesperson for the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the BDS movement said: “Mirroring Trump’s fascistic targeting of US visa-holders, Sharon Osbourne and the so-called ‘Creative Community for Peace’ far-right Israel lobby front group are inadvertently exposing what support for genocidal Israel truly entails in 2025: a morally bankrupt, explicitly repressive and increasingly desperate strategy of censorship and self-delusion.
“We call on all artists to speak out more loudly than ever for Palestinian rights and for an end to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and to pressure their institutions to respect the cultural boycott of Israel.”
Kneecap were on the cover of NME in June 2024, where they spoke about their dislike for violence. “Obviously I can’t speak for what happened before me,” said Chara, sharing his sympathy for what past generations went through. “But we don’t support violence as that doesn’t make any sense any more.”
Last year, the band shared their ’10 rules to live by’, which included: “Be outspoken, leave your mark and stand up for your people. Stand up for Palestine, and stand up for oppressed people around the world.”
In keeping with this rule, in November, Bap raised over £30,000 for Gaza food parcels by running 10k a day on tour, the trio made headlines for refusing to take off their Palestine badges in an appearance on Ireland’s Late Late Show, and arranged a Gig for Gaza charity show alongside Primal Scream and Paul Weller.
Also in 2024, the band joined Massive Attack, Nova Twins and more in condemning the far-right riots across the UK following the Southport mass stabbings, and used their massive set at Reading Festival 2024 to denounce anti-immigration riots and “that far-right shite”.