“Guess who’s back on the news, it’s your favourite republican hoods.”
– Kneecap, ‘Get Your Brits Out’
Starmer’s government might have thought they could easily stamp out Kneecap and their pro-Palestine message. But their attempts at repression are massively backfiring.
By 8:30 this morning, an hour and a half before Liam Óg’s trial began, hundreds of protestors gathered outside Westminster Magistrates Court to show their support for the Kneecap frontman.
By the time Liam Óg (who goes by the stage name ‘Mo Chara’) turned up, thousands surrounded the courts. This was his second appearance here, defending himself against trumped-up ‘terrorism’ charges.
In a turn of events which must be worrying for Starmer and co., support for Kneecap is only growing. The crowd was bigger than his first appearance in June, and the mood remained angry. As RCP spokesperson Fiona Lali said on her Instagram page: “the mood is fuck Keir Starmer”.
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RCP members in attendance spoke to dozens of people. All of them said the same thing: they are furious that Liam Óg and Palestine Action are being labelled terrorists, while the real terrorists sit in Downing Street, the Whitehouse, and the Knesset.
In an interview with Novara Media, Fiona made the point that the establishment can try and repress Kneecap – but what Kneecap represents cannot be repressed. Anger towards the BBC, the British government, and all western imperialists cannot be shut down by putting Liam Óg in court or refusing to stream Kneecap’s performance at Glastonbury.
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This was clear from the speakers and conversations in the crowd. One speaker said that “it’s important that we don’t just look at the repression out there, but look at how they are repressing us here”.
She also drew attention to the real role of the state, connecting the use of counter-terrorism charges against Irish republicans in the past to how the British state is treating Kneecap today.
She ended by stating that “David Lammy and Keir Starmer have no right to tell us what peace is. Peace is not administered by the Metropolitan Police. It is fought for by any means necessary”.
Despite the attempts of police repression, the Met looked ineffectual today. There was a heavy police presence, with a cordon set up to control the crowd.
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However, they turned up half an hour after the protesters arrived. And as the protest grew, the police cordon was pushed further and further back, despite their best attempts to keep the protest small.
Inside the court, the British establishment was not faring much better. The judge’s microphone broke, and the prosecution was called out by the defence for incorrect paperwork. Back in June, when Liam Óg was last in court, he demanded an Irish translator, which the court could not supply.
Both in the courtroom and on the street, the Kneecap lads are running rings around the British state – refusing to Starmer’s government the easy win it wanted.
In the meantime, more popular rage is building up against the crimes of western imperialism, the British government, and Keir Starmer specifically.
Good on you Liam! We’ll see you again on 26 September.
- Hands off Kneecap! Hands off the Palestine movement!
- Lock up the real terrorists! Down with the war criminals!
