An investigation by British police into Kneecap “just feeds a narrative of victimhood”, a former Ireland rugby player and Tory politician has said.
The West Belfast rappers are under investigation by the Metropolitan Police after footage emerged of one of the band’s gigs in which someone appears to tell the crowd, “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Footage from another gig also suggests someone from the band shouted, “Up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
Both groups are designated as terrorist groups in the United Kingdom and, under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, it is an offence to express "an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation".
The daughter of David Amess, a Conservative MP who was stabbed to death at a constituency surgery, said she worried about the impact of the band’s alleged remark.
"It is just beyond belief that human beings would speak like that in this day and age and it is extremely dangerous," Katie Amess told the BBC.
"To say to kill anybody, what on earth are they thinking?"
On social media, the band wrote they have "faced a co-ordinated smear campaign" and their manager said they had received "severe" death threats after their appearance at Coachella in which they criticised Israel’s actions in Gaza.
"Our only concern is the Palestinian people — the 20,000 murdered children and counting," the group said.
"The young people at our gigs see through the lies. They stand on the side of humanity and justice. And that gives us great hope."
KNEECAP STATEMENT:
Since our statements at Coachella — exposing the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people — we have faced a coordinated smear campaign.
For over a year, we have used our shows to call out the British and Irish governments' complicity in war crimes.… pic.twitter.com/mBojb5QBOP
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 25, 2025
On Newstalk Breakfast, Trevor Ringland, a former Ireland rugby player and Co-Chair of the Northern Ireland Conservatives, said he has long had reservations about the band.
“I’ve watched Kneecap and I’ve listened to them and I’ve seen them evolve,” he said.
“A lot of friends have said they’re edgy, they’re trendy.
“The name itself influence with me because years ago I was involved with a cross-community group and we were looking at the kneecapping of young people in Northern Ireland and the impact it was having on their lives and the brutality of it that was carried out by the loyalist or republican paramilitaries.
“So, I didn’t think it was particularly edgy or friendly, such a name and some of the attitudes that were promoted.”
What the thousands of young Americans at Coachella think about genocide 👇👏 pic.twitter.com/vczKexZOF9
— KNEECAP (@KNEECAPCEOL) April 27, 2025
Mr Ringland added he was aware of one young man who had taken his life after he was kneecapped.
Despite his scepticism about the band, he said was unsure if it was wise for the Metropolitan Police to investigate them.
“The fact that they’re being interviewed by the British police and all the rest of it, that just feeds a narrative of victimhood,” he said.
“Maybe it’s something the Irish should be looking at and the Irish should be taking it on board and saying, ‘Is this who we are? Is this acceptable?’
“And the challenge should be coming not from people like me but from the people in wider Irish nationalism.
“That’s not the true character of the people of this island.”
Main image: Kneecap. Picture by: Alamy.com
