Kneecap singer facing terror charge tells crowd 'they're trying to silence us'
A member of Irish rap trio Kneecap said the terror charge he faces is an attempt to 'silence us' as the group appeared on stage for a gig they claimed was nearly 'pulled'.
Liam O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, spoke to thousands of people in Brockwell Park, south London, as the group headlined the Wide Awake Festival on Friday.
Earlier in the day they released a new song, just two days after O hAnnaidh was charged with a terror offence over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a gig in November last year.
The group have been outspoken on the war in Gaza and before they emerged on stage a screen displayed the message 'Free Palestine', which was met with cheers from the crowd.
Performing alongside his bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, O hAnnaidh said he believed the prosecution was designed to 'silence us' and prevent them playing Glastonbury Festival this summer.
He said: 'We are being made an example of, the Israeli lobbyists are trying to prove to other artists 'that if you speak out, we're going to hit you where it hurts most'.
'They're trying to cancel gigs, they trying to cancel my freedom of travel.
'And the fact that I'm speaking to this amount of people, and I assume the majority of you will agree, shows that we're on the right side of history.' PA Media Kneecap member Liam Og O hAnnaidh arrives at the 100 Club for the rap trio's surprise gig (PA)
He also told the crowd at Brockwell Park in south London: 'I went for an interview with the counter-terror police and within days they came to a verdict that they were going to charge me, never has it been that quick.
'And the reason it was that quick was because Glastonbury is just around the corner, they're trying to silence us.'
One of the group said: 'Thank you very much. They tried to stop this gig.'
And one was heard saying: 'Honestly lads, you have no idea how close we were to being pulled off this gig.'
One of the trio thanked their fans for supporting them. Earlier, the group posted on Instagram to thank the '25,000 legends' due to attend the event.
The trio have had gigs cancelled after footage emerged allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting 'up Hamas, up Hezbollah'.
They apologised last month to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been 'exploited and weaponised'.
But they also said they have 'never supported' Hamas or Hezbollah, both of which are banned in the UK.
Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police said Kneecap were being investigated by counter-terrorism police.
O hAnnaidh, 27, was then charged by postal requisition over the alleged display of a Hezbollah flag at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on June 18, the Metropolitan Police said.
On Friday night, one member was heard telling the crowd: 'If anybody's about on June 18 … we're all going to gather outside the Westminster court to show support.'
One of the trio was also heard saying: 'Anybody who's free on June 18 – get a big bag of ket and we'll go on the steps of Westminster.'
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Kneecap to be banned and suggested they should be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up. A number of other politicians have made the same demand.
Last year, Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK Government in Belfast High Court after former business secretary Badenoch tried to refuse them a £14,250 funding award when she was a minister.
The new song, The Recap, opens with a sample of a news report about the counter-terrorism police investigation into the group, and mocks Badenoch's attempts to block their arts funding, and the Conservative Party's election loss. The song also features DJ Mozey.
On Thursday, the band held a surprise gig at the 100 Club in Oxford Street, where O hAnnaidh could be seen in videos on social media arriving on stage with tape covering his mouth.
He then joked about being careful about what he said, adding that he wanted to thank his lawyer.
Formed in 2017, the group are known for their provocative lyrics in both Irish and English, and their merchandise.
Their best-known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, Better Way To Live, featuring Grian Chatten from Fontaines DC, and 3Cag.
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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Israel's ambassador to the UK takes aim at Labour's half-hearted backing for her war-torn nation as it takes on Iran
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The terrorists raped and sexually abused hundreds of women and young girls. To this day 53 hostages are still in captivity, and the ambassador fears only 20 may still be alive. Some of Tzipi Hotovely's loved ones were among the victims. 'We lost members of our extended family. We lost friends,' she says of that horrendous day. The war that began that morning is now reaching a new peak with Israel's relentless bombardment of Iran. She says that her parents, who remain in Israel, have been caught in the crossfires of Tehran's retaliatory strikes in the past week. Three or more times every night, they have been moving into the bomb shelter in the basement. Not long before we speak, a ballistic missile landed close to her parents' home. Despite the civilian death toll on both sides, the straight-talking ambassador is in no doubt about the justification of waging war on Iran. 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The ambassador says: 'It was a very bad decision, morally wrong. You put sanctions on your enemy not your friend.' To underline this, she points to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was denounced by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in 2020 for presiding over 'a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it'. She adds: 'Jeremy Corbyn could have been prime minister of Britain. He was anti-Semitic. 'He had supported a terrorist organisation. But we never sanctioned him or the Labour Party. We respect the British people. We can criticise their leaders but we don't sanction them.' As for David Lammy, she is even more circumspect when I ask if she thinks he is remotely up to the job of being Britain's diplomat-in-chief on the world stage. 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When she addressed the London School of Economics in 2021, she needed an armed escort off the premises. 'I did not think in post-war Europe I would experience these levels of hate. I am very involved with the Jewish community here and they no longer feel safe. They don't think they can wear symbols of their Jewishness on their clothes.' By tradition, many Jewish families place a mezuzah, a small symbol of their Jewish faith, on their front door frame. 'But since October 7 most now have brought those symbols into the house, which is very sad.' Since the war with Gaza, she has become one of the most closely guarded women in Britain. 'I cannot even go to the synagogue because of the security so I pray at home. The security guys are all British. They have been wonderful to me and my family.' Every Saturday there is a huge march, involving thousands of pro-Palestine protesters, into central London. 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Scottish Sun
5 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
Iran plots to activate terrorist sleeper cell network across West in desperate last act in face of Israeli destruction
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) A 'VULNERABLE' IRAN may activate a network of sleeper cells across the West in the face of the Israeli bombing campaign, experts have warned. With its military and top Islamist leadership on the ropes, analysts say a weakened Iran could resort to asymmetric terror warfare in a bid to sow chaos against its enemies. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 4 Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei Credit: AFP 4 Iran's murderous terrorist wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) 4 A view of the damage is seen after a missile launched from Iran reportedly struck the area on June 15 in retaliation for recent Israeli attacks Credit: Getty It has now been more than a week since Israel began pounding Iran's nuclear facilities and other military targets. The goal, as the Israelis say, is to thwart the Iranian regime's efforts to produce nuclear weapons - as well as more ballistic missiles, including long-range weapons that can strike targets far beyond Israel. While Iran has been responding by launching frequent salvos of ballistic missiles, its top military command has been decapitated. And Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been forced to live in underground bunkers. read more on iran GULF WAR III How Iran's Trump assassination plot would trigger full-scale invasion by US Experts now fear that a vicious Iran could awaken its network of sleeper cells to carry out terror plots across the West. Barak Seener, a security and defence expert at Henry Jackson Society and Iran expert, said: "The very fact now that the Iranian regime is volatile, it's targeted, and it's highly vulnerable — that's what actually makes it increasingly dangerous to the West." Iran's murderous Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is thought to run an extensive network of sleeper cells across the world. Mr Seener said that these sleeper cells could be regular people living regular lives. But when given the signal, they could carry out terrorist activities targeting the West. These terror operations could target public infrastructure and even civilians, with no weapons off the table, experts warn. Trump is top Iran assassination target - their terror network spreads across Europe & US, warns ex-White House official The sleeper cells could even carry out assassination attempts on top leaders that could throw the world into chaos. Last year, an Iranian agent was charged with plotting to kill Donald Trump in an assassination that would have shaken the world. US prosecutors say the rogue state told ex-con Farhad Shakeri — said to be hiding in Tehran — to devise a seven-day plan to spy on and murder him. Prosecutors said an official in the Iranian Revolutionary Guard told Shakeri to devise a plan to eliminate the President elect. They claim the planned hit was an attempt to take vengeance for a US drone strike ordered by Trump that killed Iranian general Qasem Soleimani, then said to be the world's No1 terrorist, in 2020. Trump's former security advisor, John Bolton, said the US President is "at the top" of an 'assassination list' from the Middle East nation. Mr Seener said: "They live amongst us in regular communities, have regular jobs, and they just are awaiting being activated to conduct malign activities, whether it be through a telephone text or a beeper, and then they already know what they are going to be doing. "If the regime feels threatened and on the verge of being toppled, then they may say, 'you're going to go down with us,' and at that point they may unleash their sleeper cells." In an op-ed for The Sun, expert Mark Almond wrote: "Iran's Islamic regime is a dangerous, wounded predator. "It cannot defeat Israel, but it could go mad and unleash terrorism, even using chemical weapons, which its industries can make much more easily than nuclear weapons." 4 Mr Seener said the attacks could range from an attack against a synagogue, an embassy, or blowing up a dirty bomb in Central London. Sir Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned back in October that Iran could turn on UK targets if it felt Britain was too enthusiastic in its support for Israel. He said the attacks could increase if the Middle East conflict intensifies. In August, Matt Jukes, the head of Counter Terror Policing, warned that Britain is facing an increase in plots by hostile states. He said Iranian dissidents and diaspora communities have been 'clearly at risk of kidnapping or assassination'. "These are people who are doing it daily. And when you are projecting soft power, you're creating the cultural milieu in which terrorism can be conducted much more readily. Counterterror police have investigated 15 of these cases alongside MI5. MI5 has responded to 20 plots backed by Iran since 2022, it was reported. Mr Seener said: "The reason why the Irgc can act with impunity, and why British citizens are at risk, is because of the British Government's unwillingness and failure to designate the Irgc as a terrorist organisation. "It means that they are able to conduct activities and infiltrate mosques, charities, community centres, cultural centres, and many of them, their directorship has been directly appointed by the supreme leader, Khamenei." "British Shias go on pilgrimages to religious sites in Iran and Iraq. They are targeted by the IRGC and recruited, so that when they return to the UK, they can conduct surveillance on potential targets." Iran's terror on UK street By Sayan Bose, Foreign News Reporter Iran-fuelled hit squads on the streets of the UK have been linked to at least 15 threats to kill or kidnap detected by authorities. They are all part of a campaign of intimidation aimed at those who speak out against the hardline regime. The MI5 has accused Tehran of more than a dozen assassination and kidnap plots in Britain against dissidents and media organisations in the past two years. Officials have previously warned that the threat against Iranian critics living in the UK has ramped up drastically after the horror October 7 attacks. And given the hostile situation in the Middle East, Iran could ramp up its secret terror activities in the UK, Europe and the US, experts fear. In 2022, Major Gen Hossein Salami, the Commander-in-Chief of the IRGC warned: "You've tried us before. Watch out because we're coming for you." Last year, Iranian TV journalist Pouria Zeraati was stabbed outside his home in London, sparking an investigation led by counter-terrorism police. The suspects were believed to be proxy agents hired by Tehran. Mr Zeraati works for Iran International, a London-based Persian-speaking channel which has reported on Iran's human rights violations. He said a man approached him and asked for £3 before another man appeared and stabbed him in the leg. The two fled in a car being driven by a third man, leaving Mr Zeraati bleeding in the street. Investigators believed the three culprits were able to flee the country on a flight from Heathrow within hours of the attack. Mr Zeraati, whose organisation has been a vocal critic of Iran, said the attack was a "warning shot" from Tehran. He called on the UK government to declare the IRGC a terrorist group to stop it from spreading its doctrine. He said: "It will also send a clear message to the regime in Iran that enough is enough. "The whole of Western civilisation is in danger because of the threat the IRGC poses." A report by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) found almost half of journalists who covered Iran from the UK reported being physically or verbally harassed in the past five years. Individuals have been sent death threats by text and voice notes, with one message noting that the 'water underneath Westminster Bridge was very deep'. One said they were constantly worried about Iran targeting their children, saying: 'I wake up in the middle of the night. I check my son to see if he's there. I won't let him play in the garden on his own. I have to be there. I'm on alert constantly.' Another reporter told the RSF she had a package, which was designed to look like it contained anthrax, hand-delivered to her apartment block. While female TV journalist was approached on a London bus by a man who told her: 'We will kill you. You are a very bad person.' All of them are understood to have voiced their dissent against Tehran. The IRGC is the principal supporter of Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which are proscribed in the UK. Amid threats of all-out war in the Middle East, officials last year wanted to expedite tightening domestic terror laws to ban IRGC operatives from nurturing Islamist terrorism at home. Current sanctions on Iran do not prevent state-linked organisations spreading jihadi propaganda or carrying out soft-power activities designed to radicalize British citizens. Kasra Aarabi, Director of IRGC Research at United Against Nuclear Iran, said: 'The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is the most antisemitic armed Islamist extremist organisation in the world. 'The government needs to proscribe the IRGC as a matter of urgency. 'The failure to proscribe the IRGC is putting British lives at risk, not least those from the British-Jewish community and British-Iranian diaspora —the two primary targets of IRGC terrorism in the UK.'
South Wales Argus
5 hours ago
- South Wales Argus
Two Middle East-related protests to be held in central London on Saturday
A protest organised by groups under the Palestine Coalition banner will gather in Russell Square from 12pm, before marching to Whitehall via Aldwych and the Strand for an assembly outside Downing Street. Former Scottish First Minister Humza Yousaf, former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and musician Paloma Faith are among those set to give speeches at the assembly. Meanwhile, a static counter-protest organised by pro-Israeli group Stop The Hate will be held at the same time just north of Waterloo Bridge at the junction with the Strand. The group said it would meet at the location from 12.30pm onwards. Police have set out conditions for the first protest under the Public Order Act which demands that any person taking part in the procession must remain within Russell Square ahead of the protest and must not deviate from its specified route. Demonstrators must then stay in a specified part of Whitehall for the assembly, which must finish by 5.30pm, the force said. The Palestine Coalition is comprised of a number of different groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Stop The War. Stop The War said in an advertisement for the event on its website: 'Israel's attacks on Gaza and the West Bank are intensifying. Their starvation policy continues. And now Israel attacks on Iran seem intended to lead us into a full-scale war in the Middle East. 'The UK Government has at last accepted that Israel's actions in Gaza are unconscionable. Now they must act – words are not enough.' Discussions are ongoing regarding possible conditions for the Stop The Hate protest, the Met said. In a post on X, Stop The Hate said: 'Our families in Israel are under attack: standing bravely in the face of threats and ballistic missiles, whilst the people of Iran are bravely facing down their totalitarian government — now it's our turn to stand proudly in solidarity with them.' The demonstrations come after reports on Friday that the Home Secretary will ban Palestine Action after the group vandalised two aircraft at RAF Brize Norton. Yvette Cooper has decided to proscribe the group, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support Palestine Action, after footage posted online showed two people inside the RAF base, with one appearing to spray paint into an aircraft's jet engine. PSC described the move on social media as 'outrageous', while the Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the news, saying: 'Nobody should be surprised that those who vandalised Jewish premises with impunity have now been emboldened to sabotage RAF jets.'
