Kneecap member charged with terrorism offence over flag displayed at London gig | EUROtoday

A member of rap group Kneecap has been charged with a terror offence, the Metropolitan Police have mentioned.

Liam O’Hanna, 27, who performs underneath the stage identify Mo Chara, has been charged over the airing of a flag in assist of Hezbollah at a gig on the O2 Forum in Kentish Town, northwest London, on 21 November final 12 months, the pressure mentioned.

O’Hanna, of Belfast, was charged by postal requisition and is because of seem at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 18 June, the Met mentioned.

Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command had been made conscious on 22 April of an internet video from the occasion, the pressure mentioned.

O’Hanna was charged with displaying a flag, “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”, it mentioned.

The pressure added: “Officers from the Met’s counter terrorism command were made aware on Tuesday, April 22, of an online video from the event. An investigation was carried out, which led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorising the above charge.”

Active in Lebanon, Hezbollah is a Shia Muslim political occasion and army group which has been concerned in violent clashes with Israeli forces within the nation. It is a proscribed terrorist group within the United Kingdom, described by the Home Office as “committed to armed resistance to the state of Israel”.

The authorities’s steering provides that the group “aims to seize all Palestinian territories and Jerusalem from Israel” and “supports terrorism in Iraq and the Palestinian territories”.

Earlier this month, the Met mentioned it was investigating movies shared on-line of Kneecap band members allegedly calling for the loss of life of British MPs and shouting “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

Responding to the claims, the group mentioned they’ve by no means supported Hamas or Hezbollah and wouldn’t incite violence towards any individual. The group apologised final month to the households of murdered MPs David Amess and Jo Cox, however mentioned footage of the incident had been “exploited and weaponised”. The trio added that they “never intended to cause you hurt”.

The group mentioned: “Kneecap’s message has always been – and remains – one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs. No smear campaign will change that.”

Releasing their first single in 2017, Kneecap shortly rose to fame and launched an album, Fine Artand a profitable self-titled movie in 2024. The group’s work offers with political themes with a give attention to Irish republicanism. The trio can also be outspoken in regards to the battle in Gaza, usually criticising Israel’s actions within the area.