Bob Vylan to face no charges over Glastonbury IDF chants
The rap punk duo Bob Vylan will not face charges over chants relating to the IDF during their performance at Glastonbury Festival this summer, Avon and Somerset Police have announced.
In a statement released on December 23rd, the police force said: “We have concluded, after reviewing all the evidence, that it does not meet the criminal threshold outlined by the CPS for any person to be prosecuted.”
They added: “No further action will be taken on the basis there is insufficient evidential for there to be a realistic prospect of conviction.”
An investigation was launched by local police following the band’s set on the West Holts stage at the festival this summer, after they chanted “death, death to the IDF”, relating to their ongoing support for Gaza.
In the aftermath of the event, Bob Vylan were dropped from a number of other festival appearances, and their American visas were revoked, forcing them to cancel their US tour.
Despite bringing no charges against the band, Avon and Somerset Police highlighted that it had engaged with a number of police forces across the UK, hate crime organisations, and Jewish community groups to determine its outcome.
“The comments made on Saturday 28 June drew widespread anger, proving that words have real-world consequences,” they added in their statement.
“We believe it is right this matter was comprehensively investigated, every potential criminal offence was thoroughly considered, and we sought all the advice we could to ensure we made an informed decision.”
The band have always stood by their actions and criticised the police investigation. Most recently, they launched legal action against the Irish broadcaster RTÉ over their coverage of the event, as they described the chant as “anti-Semitic”.
Bob Vylan have not yet publicly responded to the news of the investigation being dropped.
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