KNEECAP have issued an apology to the families of murdered MPs Jess Cox and David Amess after footage emerged which appeared to show them calling for politicians to be killed.
The Belfast-based band, made up of Liam Óg Ó Hannaidh, Naoise Ó Cairealláin and JJ Ó Dochartaigh, has come under fire over the past week following their performances at the Coachella festival, where they openly criticised Israel and expressed their support for Palestine.
A video has since emerged online, reportedly from a gig in November 2023, which appears to show one band member saying: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
The footage has drawn criticism from all sides, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s spokesperson describing them as “completely unacceptable” before confirming that he “condemns them in the strongest possible terms” and Taoiseach Micháel Martin calling on the trio to “urgently clarify” the comments.
The late MP David Amess was murdered in his Southend West constituency in 2021 by an Islamic State Fanatic.
Labour MP Jo Cox was fatally shot and stabbed in June 2016.
In a statement issued last night, Kneecap apologised to the Cox and Amess families, claiming they “never intended to cause you hurt” but added that the footage had been “weaponised”.
“They want you to believe words are more harmful than genocide,” they said.
“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.”
The band went on to call out the British Government for “continuinf 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,” they said.
“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 you.”