Kneecap star charged with terrorism after flag display at concert

A star of Irish band Kneecap has been charged with a terrorism offence relating to displaying a flag in support of Hezbollah at a gig in London last November. Liam O’Hanna, who performs with

the rap trio under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged for his actions, the Metropolitan Police said. The force said the 27-year-old musician from Belfast has been charged following

an investigation by its counter terrorism command. He is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18. The artist was charged with displaying a flag at the O2 Forum in

Kentish Town, North London, on November 21, “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organisation”, it said. The force

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.” The group has seen gigs including a performance at the Eden Project in Cornwall on July 4 cancelled after concert footage appeared to show

a member of the group shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”. In another video, it was allegedly showing one calling for Conservative MPs to be killed also. Made up of Liam Og O Hannaidh, Naoise

O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh, the group has faced investigation by counter-terrorism police after the videos, filmed in 2023 and 2024, became public. Following the videos, the group

apologised to the families of murdered MPs, but claimed footage of the incident had been “exploited and weaponised”, while they also said they have “never supported” Hamas or Hezbollah,

which are both banned organisations in the UK. The trio added: "To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt." Conservative

leader Kemi Badenoch called for Kneecap to be banned at the time, while other politicians pushed for the group to be dropped from the Glastonbury Festival line-up. The band recently hit back

at Sharon Osbourne with a blunt response after she told them to 'be more like Bono'. Kneecap responded to Sharon's initial comments with a statement. It read: “Statements

aren’t aggressive, murdering 20,000 children is though.” Sharon then appeared on Piers Morgan Uncensored and shared her thoughts on Kneecap using Coachella to share their stance, despite

them openly voicing their beliefs since the band's formation. “My whole stance is have your own stance politically, couldn’t give a damn what you believe in but don’t bring it to a

musical festival where there’s peace. Music unites people, music doesn’t separate people,” she claimed. “It’s all insane that this should be allowed to continue where there are young people,

drinking or doing whatever they want to do, it’s their business, but don’t try to incite violence with their fist, attitude. Their whole attitude is one of anger, it’s not of peace.” _LIKE

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