Irish rapper, Liam O’Hanna AKA Kneecap’s Mo Chara, charged over Hezbollah flag at London concert

Police have charged a member of the contentious Irish rap group with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a banned flag.

Police have charged a member of the contentious Irish rap group Kneecap with a terror offence for allegedly displaying a Hezbollah flag at a London concert.

Liam O’Hanna, 27, perhaps better known by his stage name Mo Chara, is accused of showing support for the Lebanese militant group during a performance on November 21.

London’s Metropolitan Police said its Counter Terrorism Command launched an investigation after a video of the event surfaced online in April.

O’Hanna is accused of 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” in contravention of the 2000 Terrorism Act.”

The Belfastian rapper, from Belfast, is scheduled to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18.

The group is scheduled to perform at a festival in London later this week.

Kneecap has not yet made a statement addressing the charge but did share a clip on X of a January interview in which O’Hanna 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 f***, I didn’t do enough. I don’t wanna be on that side of history,” he continued.

“If it comes down to awards or breaking America by sacrificing what you believe in, then America can go f*** itself.”

(L-R) Mgla Bap, Dj Prova, and Mo Chara of Kneecap. Picture: Getty Images

The official count for the group added: “We are clearer than ever on who we are and what we stand for.”

“We will have a short statement soon.”

The charge comes amid increasing scrutiny of Kneecap’s performances after footage circulated online that shows provocative political statements made by the band on stage.

One video appeared to show a band member shouting: “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”

Both groups, in Gaza and in Lebanon, are banned as terror organisations in the UK and it is a crime to express support for them- as is the case in Australia.

Kneecap has carved out a brand of confrontational style and Irish nationalist messaging but has denied supporting violence or banned groups.

It clammed footage had been “deliberately taken out of context”.

Irish hip-hop band Kneecap were gifted with the severed head of a King George V statue at their Melbourne gig in March. Picture: Kneecap Instagram

The backlash led to the cancellation of several of the group’s shows, including in southwest England and Germany.

The group, whose hits include Get Your Brits Out and Better Way To Live, caused controversy in Australia in March this year when the head of a King George V statue was brought onto the stage during Kneecap’s gig in Melbourne. “Some madman dropped by with a huge King George’s head so he could hear a few tunes for our last Melbourne show!” the band posted on Instagram.

The controversy has sparked a wider debate about artistic expression and political censorship.

The family of Conservative MP David Amess, who was fatally stabbed by an Islamic State group follower in 2021, called for an apology while the party leader Kemi Badenoch called for the band to be banned.

Liam O’Hanna aka Mo Chara has been charged with a terror offence. Picture: VALERIE MACON / AFP

In a statement in April, the band denied promoting extremist views and apologised to the families of Amess and Jo Cox, who was murdered in 2016 by a neo-Nazi sympathiser a week before the divisive Brexit referendum.

“We do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah,” the group said.

Nearly 40 musicians and groups, including Pulp, Paul Weller, Primal Scream and Massive Attack, have publicly backed Kneecap, accusing authorities of suppressing creative freedom.

Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin had urged the band to clarify whether they supported the group.

An attack in Israel by Hamas militants on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to AFP.

Israel’s military response in Gaza has triggered a humanitarian crisis, with the territory’s health ministry on Tuesday putting the death toll at 53,655.

- With AFP

Originally published as Irish rapper, Liam O’Hanna AKA Kneecap’s Mo Chara, charged over Hezbollah flag at London concert