Hundreds Of Supporters Cheer On Kneecap’s Mo Chara At Latest Terrorism Hearing
Carl Court/Getty Images
In May, Mo Chara, a member of the Belfast rap group Kneecap, was charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act, accused of displaying a Hezbollah flag at a 2024 Kneecap show in London. The charge came after Kneecap were faced with what the group (accurately, in my opinion) described as a “coordinated smear campaign” for voicing their support for the Palestinian people during their Coachella set. In the process, Kneecap have become symbols for the struggle against Israel’s genocidal campaign. When Mo Chara first appeared in court to answer those charges in June, he was thronged by supporters. Today, Chara returned to court, and the same thing happened again.
Today’s court hearing was essentially procedural. As The Irish Times reports, lawyers for Mo Chara, whose government name is Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, argued that charges should be dismissed because Attorney General didn’t give police permission to charge Chara within the six-month window in which those charges could be brought. Police reportedly informed Chara that he would face these charges on May 21, but the Attorney General didn’t give permission until the next day. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring is considering the arguments, and he adjourned the case. He’ll give his decision on September 26, and Chara remains free on unconditional bail. Also, The Irish Times reported in June that Metropolitan Police opted not to prosecute over an unrelated 2023 incident in which an unidentified Kneecap member allegedly said, “Kill your local MP. The only good Tory is a dead Tory.” Video of that incident was submitted to police, but it fell definitively outside of the required time frame for charges.
Once again, the real story here is loud support that greeted Mo Chara when he arrived at court with his Kneecap bandmates. Hundreds of Kneecap supporters waving pro-Palestine flags and banners were waiting outside the courthouse, along with crowds of photographers. Before the hearing, the group invited people to “come down and show your support/ solidarity outside the court,” and that’s what people did. Kneecap also arranged for speakers and performers.
Before the hearing, Metropolitan police announced that protesters would have to remain in a specific area “to prevent serious disruption.” On social media, Kneecap claimed that the restriction was “designed to try and portray support for kneecap as somehow troublesome,” but they asked supporters to go along with those orders, “irrespective of how pitiful.”
We massively appreciate the support of what we know are the majority of the public, who can see this farce for what it is.
It is distraction from war crimes that the British state support.
In our view this police action is designed to try and portray support for kneecap as… https://t.co/KoMAtkydqG
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) August 19, 2025
Last night, a new pro-Kneecap, pro-Palestine mural was unveiled in West Belfast.
Through all this, Kneecap continue to insist that they are not the story here — that the prosecution in the UK government’s attempt to distract attention from the UK’s support for the genocide and starvation of the Palestinian people. That genocide is ongoing, and the flood of horrifying stories and images continues. In July, the UK government declared the direct action network Palestine Action to be a terrorist organization. Since then, more than 700 people have been arrested for expressing support of Palestine Action.
