The Metropolitan Police in London has issued a warning to protesters in advance of a court hearing involving Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh, who is accused of a terrorism offence, on Wednesday.
Ó hAnnaidh, who performs with the Northern Irish rap trio under the stage name Mo Chara, is accused of displaying a flag in support of Hizbullah at a gig last November. The 27-year-old previously appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18th but the case was adjourned until August 20th.
At the hearing in June, Ó hAnnaidh and his bandmates – Naoise Ó Cairealláin (Móglaí Bap) and JJ Ó Dochartaigh (DJ Próvaí) – arrived to a crowd of hundreds of supporters who cheered as their vehicle pulled up outside the central London court.
In a statement issued on Tuesday night, the Met Police said: “We’ve imposed Public Order Act conditions to prevent serious disruption being caused by a protest outside Westminster Magistrates’ Court tomorrow.”
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The police force published an image of the area outside the court building and informed any protesters they “must remain in the red area”, while any stage “must be erected in the green area”.
Responding to the statement, Kneecap urged its supporters to “go out of your way to be compliant with all instructions issued, irrespective of how pitiful”.
In a post on X, the band said: “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 [a] distraction from war crimes that the British state support.”
Kneecap said the police’s action was “designed to try and portray support for Kneecap as somehow troublesome”.
“It is a calculated political decision the night before Mo Chara’s court appearance. There is no basis for this, our last hearing was entirely peaceful and a loving show of solidarity.”
Kneecap has consistently said the charges against Mo Chara were brought because of the band’s vocal support of Palestine.
