CNN
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Members of Irish hip-hop trio Kneecap have been charged with terrorist crimes following an investigation by London’s metropolitan police.
Liam Ohanna, 27, of Belfast, has been charged with allegedly posting a flag “in support of Hezbollah, a banned organisation,” Metropolitan Police in London said Wednesday.
The charges are linked to a flag allegedly displayed by Ohanna at Kentish Town, the O2 Forum, a London music venue, on November 21, 2024.
“An officer of the Met Counterterrorism Command recognized the online video of the event on Tuesday, April 22. An investigation was conducted and led to the Crown Prosecutor’s Office allowing the accusations listed above,” the statement said.
Police added that Ohanna is scheduled to appear in Westminster Magistrate’s court on June 18th.
CNN reached out to KneeCap management for comment.
Knecap was a critic of the voices of Israel’s war in Gaza. Earlier this month, British counterterrorism police said they were investigating the group after a video was revealed that allegedly showed the band seeking to kill British politicians and shout “on Hamas in Hezbollah.”
Kneecap has never previously supported Hamas or Hezbollah, and says the circulating footage online has been “deliberately removed from all contexts” as part of the “smear campaign” following criticism of Israel and the US over the war in Gaza.
Apart from that, the November 2023 video appears to show one member of a group from Northern Ireland, saying, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. I’ll kill a local MP.” Tory is another conservative word, and MP is an abbreviation for members of parliament. Over the past decade, two British MPs – Joe Cox and David Ames, have been killed.
Kneecap later apologized to Cox and Amess’ family.
Both videos have been widely distributed online in the wake of the band’s Coachella set, where crowds chanted “free Palestine,” criticising Israeli campaigns in Gaza and criticising US support for the war.
Kneecap manager Daniel Lambert recently told Irish broadcaster RTé that the controversy “has nothing to do with Kneecap… about talking to the next younger band… I can’t talk about Palestine.”
CNN’s Issy Ronald, Rosa Rahimi and Niamh Kennedy contributed to this report.
