Kneecap have arrived at a surprise London performance – just hours after one of their members was charged with a terror offence.
The Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday that Liam O’Hanna, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, had been charged over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year.
The group from Belfast, who rap in the Irish language, said they would perform at an Oxford Street club on Thursday evening, ahead of their headline slot at Wide Awake Festival in Brockwell Park, south London, on Friday night.
O’Hanna posed for a photograph at the rear entrance of the 100 Club when he arrived.
On Wednesday, he was charged over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year.
On Thursday, he arrived in a silver Mercedes before doing a few poses for a photographer.
At least three police officers were yesterday seen walking into the venue – 100 Club in Oxford Street – at around 7.35pm, and the Metropolitan Police confirmed a ‘policing plan’ was in place.
A spokesman said: ‘A policing plan is in place around tonight’s event to ensure it passes off safely.
Liam O’Hanna posed for a photograph at the rear entrance of the 100 Club when he arrived
At least three police officers were yesterday seen walking into the venue – 100 Club in Oxford Street – at around 7.35pm
In a post to social media, they said: ‘London. We’re back. See you at The 100 Club tonight – tickets on sale in one hour at 4pm’
The rap trio have been involved in a series of high-profile controversies in response to the war in Gaza, which has seen them banned from concerts and calls for their Glastonbury set this summer to be axed
‘This is primarily in terms of managing visitors to the venue for what we understand is a spontaneous and sold-out event.
‘There have been no issues or arrests.’
Officers were seen entering the venue earlier and have also been seen outside.
In a post to social media, Kneecap said: ‘London. We’re back. See you at The 100 Club tonight – tickets on sale in one hour at 4pm.’
The post contained a quote from former Sex Pistols vocalist John Lydon who told ITV’s Good Morning Britain (GMB) ‘maybe they need a bloody good kneecapping’ in response to the ‘kill your MP’ footage.
The venue confirmed the gig in a social media post and said doors to the event will open at 7.30pm.
O’Hanna, 27, was charged by postal requisition and is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18, the Metropolitan Police said.
In response to the charge, the group said in a post on social media: ‘14,000 babies are about to die of starvation in Gaza, with food sent by the world sitting on the other side of a wall, and once again the British establishment is focused on us.
On Wednesday, O’Hanna was charged over the alleged display of a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, north London, in November last year
On Thursday, he arrived in a silver Mercedes before doing a few poses for a photographer
Police officers inside the 100 Club in Oxford Street, central London, where rap trio Kneecap have announced a surprise gig
O’Hanna is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 18 June. Pictured: Performing at Coachella
Kneecap, named after the paramilitary punishment of shooting someone in the knee, shot to fame at the start of the year when their fictitious anti-British film scooped an array of industry awards
The trio also received criticism and censorship over its music and were in dispute with now-Tory leader Kemi Badenoch when the group launched a discrimination case. Pictured: Mo Chara (left) and Moglai Bap at Coachella
‘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, as they profit from genocide, they use an ‘anti-terror law’ against us for displaying a flag thrown on stage. A charge not serious enough to even warrant their crown court, instead a court that doesn’t have a jury. What’s the objective?
‘To restrict our ability to travel. To prevent us speaking to young people across the world. To silence voices of compassion. To prosecute artists who 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. Then, 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.’
Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware on April 22 of an online video from the event, police said.
An investigation led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorising the charge.
A second video in which a band member appears to shout ‘the only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP’ is also being investigated by police after it was exclusively published by the Daily Mail.
Earlier this month, the Metropolitan Police said Kneecap were being investigated by counter-terrorism police after videos emerged allegedly showing the band calling for the deaths of MPs and shouting ‘up Hamas, up Hezbollah’.
The rap trio have had gigs cancelled after the footage emerged but are still listed to headline Wide Awake.
The Met Police said the rapper, from Belfast , was showing the flag ‘in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation’
They apologised last month to the families of murdered MPs but said footage of the incident had been ‘exploited and weaponised’.
They also said they have ‘never supported’ Hamas or Hezbollah, which are banned in the UK.
Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has called for Kneecap to be banned while other politicians pushed for the group to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up.
The Campaign Against Antisemitism, which reported Kneecap to counter-terrorism police, posted on X: ‘We are pleased to see the police have acted swiftly. Hamas and Hezbollah are both proscribed terrorist organisations in the UK. The law must be enforced.’
In 2024, the band released an eponymous film starring Oscar-nominated actor Michael Fassbender which is a fictionalised retelling of how the band came together and follows the Belfast group on their mission to save their mother tongue through music.
Formed in 2017, the group, made up of O’Hanna, Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, are known for their provocative lyrics and merchandise as well as their championing of the Irish language.
Their best-known tracks include Get Your Brits Out, Better Way To Live, featuring Grian Chatten from Fontaines DC, and 3Cag.
