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One of the members of the Irish-language rap trio Kneecap has been charged by UK police with a terrorism offence after allegedly displaying a flag in support of Hizbollah during a concert last year.
Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, 27, who uses the stage name Mo Chara (My Friend), was charged on Wednesday under the Terrorism Act 2000.
He is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18 to face a charge of displaying the flag “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”, according to a statement from the Met. The UK has classified Hizbollah as a proscribed organisation.
Ó hAnnaidh was charged under the English version of his name, Liam O’Hanna. The Met said the charge carried a penalty of imprisonment of up to six months and/or a fine if convicted.
The charge caps weeks of controversy for the provocative Belfast group, which has used its concerts — including the Coachella festival in California last month — to condemn Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
The group says its critics “want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter”.
At Coachella, the band, which raps in Irish, displayed a slogan relating to the war in Gaza.
Kneecap made no immediate reaction to the terror charge at the time of publication and its manager did not respond to a request for comment, however the band said that it does not support Hamas or Hizbollah and “condemns all attacks on civilians, always”.
In a post on X, the band aired a clip of a programme recorded in January and shown on Irish broadcaster RTÉ, in which Ó hAnnaidh said: “I don’t want to be 80, 90 years of age and my grandkids asking me about the Palestinian genocide? Me sitting there being like fuck, I didn’t do enough. I don’t wanna be on that side of history.”
The band said it would issue a statement later.
The trio — also made up of Naoise O’Cairealláin and James John Ó Dochartaigh, who use the names Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí respectively — have exaggerated stage personas based around a “Brits Out” Republican cause. Ó Dochartaigh wears an Irish tricolour balaclava on stage and the band’s name echoes a type of punishment — shooting in the legs — meted out during Northern Ireland’s Troubles conflict.
The charge came after an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command into footage filmed by an audience member at the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, London, in November 2024.
Kneecap, who have become a cultural sensation following an award-winning fictionalised comedy about their formation, have insisted they do not support Hamas and Hizbollah, although they refuse to row back on their anti-Israel rhetoric.
