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Northern Irish rap trio Kneecap are no longer under criminal investigation over their performance at Glastonbury 2025, UK authorities announced on Friday, July 18th.
As reported by BBC, the Avon and Somerset Police dropped the investigation after consulting with the Crown Prosecution Service and concluding there was “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offense.”
In June, Kneecap delivered the biggest set of their career at Glastonbury, while remaining as defiant as ever. Even after their pro-Palestine stance at Coachella resulted in band member Mo Chara facing terror charges for an unrelated incident, they led chants of “Fuck [UK prime minister] Keir Starmer” and “Free, free Palestine.”
Following news of the investigation being dropped, Kneecap posted a redacted email they received from police on Instagram. “One element of the political policing intimidation attempt is over,” they wrote in the caption. “Every single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close…. yet the police saw fit to publicly announce they were opening an investigation.”
The statement continued, “This is political. This is [targeted]. This is state intimidation. After the media damage is inflicted and seen by millions of eyes — you receive a private email to say there’s no evidence and no action — that is seen by two people only. There is no public apology, they don’t send this to media or post it on police accounts. We will continue to fight. We will continue to win.”
While Kneecap’s Glastonbury performance is no longer under investigation, police said they were continuing their probe into London punk-rap duo Bob Vylan’s set, when they led chants of “Death to the IDF.”
In related news, Massive Attack recently launched an alliance to support musicians who are facing intimidation and “attempted censorship” within the industry for speaking out against Israel’s military violence in Gaza.
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