Kneecap in court: Inside the protest as hundreds support Mo Chara amid terror charge
On the morning of June 18th, the street outside Westminster Magistrates Court was filled with green in a show of support for Palestine and Kneecap.
Mo Chara of the Irish hip-hop trio is facing a terror charge for displaying a Hezbollah flag at a gig last November; today, he brings a legal team with him as he “vehemently” fights the charges. The legal case was recently labelled a “witch hunt” by Grian Chatten of Fontaines DC, a term that’s ostensibly stuck, has become more than just a Kneecap issue; the protest is also about censorship, the intersection of politics and art, the right to defend Palestine, and British colonialism.
Mo Chara’s court hearing was scheduled for 10am. By 9am, a crowd was steadily growing, heeding the calls for back-up plastered to the 800,000 Instagram followers of the band. The protest was impressively organised; plentiful placards reading “defend Kneecap; drop the charges” and “Free Mo Chara” were displayed and handed out merrily. Flags of intersectional bounty swiftly amassed, such as Liverpool Football Club for Palestine, LGBTQIA+ for Palestine, Jews Against Gaza Genocide, Socialist Worker, Love Music Hate Racism, and an abundance of Irish flags for good measure.
Quickly, the protestors grew from one hundred to hundreds, spilling down Marylebone Road. Dozens of police officers stood sturdy in their attempt to clear a pathway through the undulating, unruly crowd. Megaphones shouted “Free Free” to hear the catechism completed with “Palestine”. Drums were hit steadily within the crowd, though the Kneecap crew had set up a stage with Irish folk singers performing acoustic classics to rally the crowd, plucking through the likes of ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘Back Home in Derry.’
The band’s existence on a platform above the crowded civilians implied heavily that this court case goes beyond Kneecap. Art is political, Kneecap has said. Let’s treat it as such. Art is political, the Irish musicians singing heartily reaffirmed. The voices raised in unison agreed.
The night before the protest, Kneecap revealed the erection of a series of pro-Kneecap billboards across London. “More blacks, more dogs, more Irish, Mo Chara,” the slogan reads. A van with the same messaging intermittently drove circles around the court, beeping ferociously. Curious vehicles joined in, bashing angry horns, so the angry crowd raised their fist higher.
The crowd was filled with all walks of life; children clung to shoulders, wheelchairs often rolled through the group and were offered the best vantage points, the elderly clung to the arms of strangers who bonded about where they were from, how long they had travelled.
As the crowd stretched to the other side of Marleybone Road, threatening spillage into the busy street, a mighty boom rang out. Here was Mo Chara, along with his manager, bandmates, and an entourage of lawyers, pulling up in a black car, to the hopeful display of change in motion. The right to protest through protest. They made it through the crowd and into the security entrance inside, where a lucky handful gained entrance with him into the foyer. Chara stared, appreciative but somewhat guarded, back at the crowd. The band were wearing “Free Mo Chara” T-shirts.
In the foyer, he shook hands with his team, even taking a few selfies with those in security vests. He raised a fist in response to the crescendoing support outside and the yelling supporters inside. A security guard pushed a phone from one of the recording protesters. A heated debate with careful shoving and pushing ensued as the device fell to the floor. After Chara’s silhouette disappeared, the crowd watched him trudge up the stairs through the glass interior. Chara’s face now broke out in a huge grin.
While the rapper was inside the court, the chaos outside continued. At one point, police removed a pro-Israel protester who walked into the crowd wearing an Israeli flag. This prompted boos, swearing and shouts of “free Palestine”. Speeches from organisers, protesters, fellow Irish musicians and writers were interspersed between music. One of the speakers, Ruairi Brannigan, told Far Out that Chara’s charge, “is an act of political policing, a targeted campaign by the British government to undermine Kneecap, take away their platform, to further disenfranchise Palestinians.” Gesturing the crowd growing behind him, he added, “We are here to peacefully support the palestinian people. The singing, the joy… This is a fantastic protest, a display of real solidarity. I’m so happy to see the amount of people that’ve come here to support them.”
Press gathered hungrily outside the left entrance of the Court to grab a snap of Chara’s exit; as to be expected, in reaction to the blinking cameras the band chose to leave via the other entrance, causing a crush of bodies trying to read the look on Chara’s face in reaction to the brief hearing. News travelled to attendees in dribs and drabs, roughly understood over the pandemonium; Mo Chara was released on bail and is due back in court this August.
For his next date in court, he requested an interpreter to translate proceedings into Gaeilge. Reportedly, he spoke only in court to confirm his name, date of birth and address. Taking to the make-shift stage alongside the band, one of his lawyers, Darragh Mackin, told the crowd of protestors: “The more they come after Kneecap, the louder they will get.” He added: “They will defend not only their rights, but the rights of artists and people all around the world.”
During the brief hearing, prosecutor Michael Bisgrove told the court that the case is separate from the rapper’s support for the people of Palestine or his criticism of Israel, stating, “He is well within his rights to voice his opinions and his solidarity.” Contrarily, the case rests on footage from a London concert in November 2024, where Chara can be heard shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah.”
Meanwhile, Mo Chara’s defence lawyer, Brenda Campbell, argued the charge falls outside a six-month limit, telling the court, “If we are right in relation to that, then this court has no jurisdiction and there ends the case.”
As soon as they arrived, Kneecap disappeared into a black car that soared through a small gap in the crowd. Later, the band would take to X to express their gratitude to the protestors defending their right to free speech. In a post, they wrote, “To all the groups who turned out today fair fucks. See yis again August 20th. They’re already on the back foot… We will fight. We will win. FREE PALESTINE.” For a moment, the crowd spilt into the oncoming traffic; a protester in a wheelchair refused to move from in front of the motionless car, and it seemed a full police removal would ensue. The situation de-escalated in a matter of minutes. Still, the crowd stayed strong, rejoicing in community and solidarity beneath a hot sky lit up with flares of red and green.
Mo Chara is set to appear in court again on August 20th.
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