Police are assessing a second video from a Kneecap gig, which purportedly shows the group calling for the death of Conservative MPs.
As reported by Sky News, the footage is thought to come from a show from November 2023 where one of the West Belfast trio allegedly said to the crowd: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
It follows the news from earlier this week that counter-terror police are assessing footage from a show at London’s O2 Kentish Town in November 2024 that appears to show a band member shouting, “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”, while also displaying a Hezbollah flag.
Both Hamas and Hezbollah are proscribed terror organisations and it is an offence under the Terrorism Act 2000 to “invite support for a proscribed organisation”.
Commenting on the second video, a spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said on Sunday (April 27): “We were made aware of a video on April 22, believed to be from an event in November 2024, and it has been referred to the counter-terrorism internet referral unit for assessment and to determine whether any further police investigation may be required.”
“We have also been made aware of another video believed to be from an event in November 2023.” The assessment of both clips is intended to “determine whether further police investigation is required”.
NME has contacted the band’s representatives for comment.
In response to the news of the first clip being assessed, Kneecap shared a post on X of a graphic which read, “18 Months Of Genocide Footage Not Under Investigation By UK Counter-Terror Police”, with the caption “some facts.”
Kneecap have had run-ins with the Conservative Party in the past – last year, they accused the then-government of attempting to “silence” them after their BPI funding was blocked.
The group alleged that the government had stopped the funding due to their provocative 2019 anti-DUP tour poster, which they claimed “pissed off the Tories”. Then, the court ruled that the move was in fact illegal, and Kneecap have received the £14,250 prize, which they distributed to two charities in Belfast.
After the news of the first police assessment broke this week, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch also shared the concert footage, telling her followers on X: “In government I blocked Kneecap getting taxpayer funding. Labour didn’t contest the legal case the band brought and they walked away with £14,250 of OUR money. Perhaps now Labour see Kneecap openly glorifying evil terror groups, they will apologise for rolling over. But I doubt it.”
An anti-Tory sentiment also emerged in their controversial sets at Coachella this month, the first of which saw them leading the crowd in a chant of “Maggie’s in a box”, referring to the late Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher.
The Coachella performances led to calls from Sharon Osbourne to revoke their working visas. The two sets at the festival also reportedly left organisers “blindsided” due to their overtly political nature, including showing pro-Palestine projections on the screen behind them and encouraging the audience to chant “Free, Free Palestine”.
Kneecap have since called the controversy “a coordinated smear campaign” against their efforts in “exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.
“For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments’ complicity in war crimes. The recent attacks against us, largely emanating from the US, are based on deliberate distortions and falsehoods,” they said, adding that they are “taking action against several of these malicious efforts”.
“The reason Kneecap is being targeted is simple — we are telling the truth, and our audience is growing,” the statement read. “Those attacking us want to silence criticism of a mass slaughter. They weaponize false accusations of antisemitism to distract, confuse, and provide cover for genocide,” bringing up “massive numbers of Jewish people” who are “outraged by this genocide just as we are”.
“What we care about is that governments of the countries we perform in are enabling some of the most horrific crimes of our lifetimes — and we will not stay silent. No media spin will change this,” they wrote.
“Our only concern is the Palestinian people — the 20,000 murdered children and counting.”
They praised the audiences at their shows, saying that they “see through the lies” and “stand on the side of humanity and justice.”
“And that gives us hope,” they concluded.
The group are reportedly now in the process of securing a new sponsor for renewed US visas for their October tour after they were dropped by their former sponsor and booking agent Independent Artist Group (IAG) earlier this week.
Kneecap were on the cover of NME in June 2024, where they spoke about their dislike for violence. “Obviously I can’t speak for what happened before me,” said Mo Chara, sharing his sympathy for what past generations went through. “But we don’t support violence as that doesn’t make any sense any more.”
Last year, the band shared their ’10 rules to live by’, which included: “Be outspoken, leave your mark and stand up for your people. Stand up for Palestine, and stand up for oppressed people around the world.”
In keeping with this rule, in November, Bap raised over £30,000 for Gaza food parcels by running 10k a day on tour, the trio made headlines for refusing to take off their Palestine badges in an appearance on Ireland’s Late Late Show, and arranged a Gig for Gaza charity show alongside Primal Scream and Paul Weller.
Also in 2024, the band joined Massive Attack, Nova Twins and more in condemning the far-right riots across the UK following the Southport mass stabbings, and used their massive set at Reading Festival 2024 to denounce anti-immigration riots and “that far-right shite”.
Two British MPs have been murdered in the past 10 years – Labour’s Jo Cox in 2016 and Conservative David Amess in 2021.
