Kneecap - New Footage

This is all over the British msm today, Kemi Badenoch said this evening they should 'feel the full force of the law'. They are totally screwed as a group now imo, whatever else happens to them.

You were going well there until the last line, some mental gymnastics. You obviously have no room for nuance on this issue, and are clouded by certain in built biases. Reaching for non-sequiturs.

Let’s look at the facts at issue -

The comments Kneecap made were at a gig in November 2023. They would have known they were being filmed it was a live gig. Their fans have smart phones. The fans cheered in jubilation as the comments were made.

The next question is why would the lads say the comments if they did not mean them to some degree?

Why when questioned on it do they suddenly go on the defensive? Claiming an “Smear campaign” Are they not proud of their beliefs?
Is there shame there? Or something else?

It is clear that no one put a microphone in front of these lads to make those comments. They did so of their own free will.

As for the Spotify listens controversy sells, especially among the impressionable.

People aren’t concerned about what they said about Israel, it’s the chanting about Hamas. They’re not persecuted truth tellers.

RTE news : 'We do not' support Hamas or Hezbollah - Kneecap

http://www.rte.ie/news/politics/2025/0428/1509902-martin-kneecap/

Strange statement. Seemed to completely ignore the fact the are on record as saying kill your MP.

Its one thing calling out genocide and standing up for oppressed people, shouting to an audience to kill your mp is a different ball game entirely.

"An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised"

No doubt it is being exploited and weaponised, but they also did say it, it isnt a deepfake, what is the supposed misunderstood context for "kill your mp"?

I was at their sold out Perth gig on Paddy's Day and it was one of the best I've been to out of around 350 or so. Their music is brilliant and it takes serious ability to be able to flick between English and Irish wordplay so seamlessly and effectively. People saying they aren't talented make me laugh, just like the "embarrassment to the country" nonsense. Hope they keep on rattling cages and touring the world.

KNEECAP STATEMENT:

They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide. Establishment figures, desperate to silence us, have combed through hundreds of hours of footage and interviews, extracting a handful of words from months or years ago to manufacture moral hysteria.

Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation's history. We also reject any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever. An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.

This distortion is not only absurd - it is a transparent effort to derail the real conversation.All two million Palestinian people in Gaza are currently being starved to death by Israel. At least 20,000 children in Gaza have been killed. The British government continues to supply arms to Israel, even after scores of NHS doctors warned Keir Starmer in August that children were being systematically executed with sniper shots to the head.

Instead of defending innocent people or the principles of international law, the powerful in Britain have abetted slaughter and famine. This is where real anger and outrage should be directed towards.

To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt. Kneecap’s message has always been — and remains — one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs. No smear campaign will change that. Suddenly, days after calling out the US administration at Coachella to applause and solidarity, there is an avalanche of outrage and condemnation by the political classes of Britain. The real crimes are not in our performances; the real crimes are the silence and complicity of those in power. Shame on them.

I'd love to see some posters back in 1992 when Rage Against The Machine released their first album.

"Killing in the name of... You cant say that! You cant be saying 'F you I won't do what you tell me'. How infantile! Of course we have to what we're told, it's how the system works. They'll be a flash in the pan, something else will come along.

Wait . Is there video of them playing in the nip?! Won't somebody think of the children?!?!"

Hilarious.

Really is true, the older you get, the more conservative you get.

What they said was “Up Hamas, Up Hezbollah”

You’re agreeing with that are you?

Just to be clear.

ETA: this is what they - and you - are defending:

They were very eloquent in saying it was taken "out of all context."

Not so much in explaining what the actual ( in their eyes) context was.

The only "pearl clutching" appears to be from Kneecap's fans.

Not that long ago since other Republicans, some of which probably no stranger to tricolour and balaclavas either, said kill British politicians, and some impressionable young minds did just that. Do Kneecap want to kickstart all the violence again or what? I have seen people jailed over lesser things, like the person jailed recently for making an online threat on his computer in his bedroom in Rathfarnham.

Also, Kneecap ( the name itself even comes from a form of torture / permanent injury most commonly linked with Republican terrorists in Balaclavas ) saying that every word of Irish spoken is another bullet in the fight for a 32 county Republic Ireland - - or words to that effect - is not exactly the language of inclusively we should be using if we want to make unionists feel comfortable or welcoming about the Irish language?

Kneecap are a disgrace to Ireland, an embarrassment at best.

Well using the Kneecap excuse, surely he was just "taken out of context".

Their PR statement confirms that neither quotes under discussion were taken out of context- because they haven’t provided the context and this statement was their chance to do so.

It’s also interesting that their first paragraph is trying to influence an audience and bring conspiracy into play-their denial of support for Hamas etc only comes in the second paragraph - you would have thought a good PR firm would have ensured that was upfront and central. There’s also no apology for any misunderstanding - which obviously there should be- if it were taken out of context.

They provide no explanation whatsoever what the “context” was surrounding their “kill MPs” quote- it’s funny, as this is likely the quote that may get them up in court considering where they live and the country that governs them.

I read the PR statement as weasel words- they’re not big enough to own up to their mistakes.

Personally I believe they’re simple idiots and they don’t want to admit that they got carried away and just spouted sho1te - similar to the “up the Ra” type outburst many people feel they must shout at a Wolftones concert - quite ironic considering the background they’ve come from.

But times have changed and when you’re in an international arena and speaking about very sensitive topics, especially in a place like what America is right now, you need to have a bit more cop on.

I don’t see much point in prosecuting them for either statement - it won’t achieve anything - but it’s a hard and likely expensive lesson.

They must be really worried,they will be hoping this will help them avoid prosecution.A mealy mouthed apology might not save them.Embarassing for them, their hard man act of supporting terrorism and a call to murder Mps blew up in their face.

It is basically from the Provo playbook of old. Say one thing to your support base. Then claim it was misconstrued or taken out of context. All to avoid arrest and further ramifications. Someone has them well trained.
In their mind they can pretend “support” means something else. And “Civilian” has a special definition for them.

You will note in the article above for all their pretence at being “unequivocal” they never “condemn” Hamas/Hezbollah. In Republican parlance that would be a REAL distancing. But the word did not appear.

Will we ever see the full video in its supposed “context” ? I very much doubt it.

The start of the post on X contradicts the supposed statement. The very first line showed admission that they said those words, but it mixed with the non-sequitur of “genocide”.
“They think words are more harmful than genocide”

So does that mean as long as Kneecap are not killing anyone, they think they can say what they like? All while pretending not to support Hamas/Hezbollah, and pretending that they did not potentially incite violence against Tory MP’s?
In America they wanted to impeach Trump for more vague statements than that inciting the Capitol Hill riots. But they have the neck to say.
They did not “intend” any hurt to families of those whose MP parent was attacked and killed. What exactly did they mean when saying find a Tory and kill them? It seems unambiguous to me.

They call their fans “Fenian’s” . It was not long ago the so called Shsnkhill butchers would go out to find a Fenian and kill them. Is that a world they want to return to?

It is Provo trolling designed for the modern age. Then they have the gall to claim the “establishment” are after them creating a victim complex. And they can go away laughing to their crew.

If kneecap was a poster on this forum it wouldn’t be long before they were banned and/or called out for trolling/WUM. That statement is a joke.
It makes no sense in the normal world, only in the context of “Republican speak” - ducking and diving.
You have to read between the lines. They are trying to cover their arse, and it is laced with insincerity.
The only true part is their manufactured victimhood complex. That is the real moneymaker for them and they know it.

If you look at their manager Dan Lambert’s posts on X he is really milking the Palestine/Gaza/Israel stuff. He will end up making more off Kneecap than he does as Bohs Chief Operating Officer, or his Bang Bang Restaurant, at this rate.

As long as the gullible keep viewing them entertaining edgy wind up merchants. It does not even matter if their stuff has any artistic merit or not. The core fan base will lap it up.

At least they preform as Gaeilge, I suppose. It is more than The Wolfe Tones were able to do.