Hundreds of fans and pro-Palestinian supporters gathered for a third time outside a London court with music and speeches from a temporary stage, to await news of Kneecap rapper Mo Chara in a carnival atmosphere of solidarity and defiance.

The case, seen as a rushed attempt to silence Kneecap’s commentary on Gaza, was the culmination of a pro-Israel lobby backlash to their Coachella set in April this year — when Sharon Osbourne and industry group Creative Community for Peace successfully pressured for the band’s U.S. visas to be revoked. The Met Police were then presented with footage in May showing Mo Chara holding a flag thrown on stage at the band’s Kentish Town Forum show on 21 November 2024 — which led to him being charged with displaying support for Hezbollah.

The charges were eventually brought on 26 May 2025 — one day past the statutory six-month limit — a point Mo Chara’s defence argued made the case unlawful from the outset. Prosecutors tried to argue that the clock should run not from the date of the Forum gig itself, but from the later moment when consents were obtained, effectively stretching the law to paper over a half-hearted prosecution. Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring rejected this outright, saying such reasoning “defied logic.” The hearing, moved at short notice from Westminster Magistrates’ to Woolwich Crown Court after reported flooding, ended with Goldspring dismissing the case as “unlawful and null.”

Outside court, Mo Chara told ecstatic supporters the process had “never been about me, never about terrorism — it was always about Gaza, about what happens if you dare to speak up.” He added: “Kneecap was never the story, Gaza was and sadly still is. We will not be silent. We said we would fight you in your court and we would win — today, we have.” He went further: “If anyone on this planet is guilty of terrorism, it is the British state,” linking the case to Ireland’s own history: “As people from Ireland we know oppression, colonialism, famine and genocide. We have suffered and still suffer under ‘your empire’.”

Sinn Féin MP John Finucane, who joined a large contingent of Irish supporters from Belfast, London and further afield, told Louder Than War it was “a great day” not just for Mo Chara and his family but for all who had shown solidarity. He said attempts to censor or silence Kneecap had “completely and spectacularly backfired,” pointing out that the court appearances themselves had become a springboard for a louder message on Gaza. He said he hoped the Kneecap case represented a sea change in British politics, but insisted it had to be part of a wider global shift: “We collectively need to stand up against the genocide. Countries who provide arms, cover, intelligence or equivocation for the disgraceful criminal acts of the Israeli regime must end their complicity.”

Words and photos by Phil Ross. More writing by Phil can be found at his Louder Than War author’s archive.