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\n\tThe British police force that began investigating the Irish rap group Kneecap<\/a> after their Glastonbury<\/a> Festival performance<\/a> last month has backed down, per the BBC<\/em><\/a>. <\/p>\n \n\tIn their set, the group doubled down on their long-time support for Palestine<\/a> and their condemnation of what they\u2019ve controversially called \u201cgenocide<\/a>\u201d by Israel<\/a> in the region. They also led a vulgar chant against British prime minister Keir Starmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tOn July 18, the BBC reported that the Avon and Somerset Police announced that in following advice from the Crown Prosecution Service, it had decided not to take any further action against Kneecap<\/a> due to \u201cinsufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction for any offence.\u201d <\/p>\n \n\tKneecap reportedly called the investigation \u201cpolitical policing intimidation\u201d and said their time on stage was a \u201ccelebration of love and solidarity.\u201d They also said, \u201cEvery single person who saw our set knew no law was broken, not even close.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tThe band\u2019s Glastonbury performance followed months of controversy stemming from their sets at Coachella<\/a> in April. During both weekends of the California festival, they defended Palestine<\/a> and blasted Israel as the war in Gaza has killed over 58,000 people and caused \u201cunprecedented\u201d starvation according to its Health Ministry<\/a>. The count follows the Hamas attacks against Israel of Oct. 7, 2023. <\/p>\n \n\tAhead of Kneecap\u2019s scheduled performance at Glastonbury, Starmer said that the band should be forbidden from playing there<\/a>. \u201cI think we need to come down really clearly on this,\u201d Starmer said. \u201cThis is about the threats that shouldn\u2019t be made, I won\u2019t say too much because there\u2019s a court case on, but I don\u2019t think that\u2019s appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\tSince May, Kneecap\u2019s Mo Chara, born Liam \u00d3g \u00d3 hAnnaidh, has faced a terror charge<\/a> in the U.K. for allegedly displaying the Hezbollah flag and yelling, \u201cUp, Hamas, up Hezbollah,\u201d and, \u201cThe only good Tory is a dead Tory,\u201d at a November 2024 concert. Both Hamas and Hezbollah are banned in the U.K., and it is a crime to publicly support them. <\/p>\n