Police in the UK have announced that a criminal investigation is underway following incendiary comments made by performers Bob Vylan and Kneecap at the Glastonbury Festival.
The frontman of the Punk duo, Pascal Robinson-Foster, led chants of “Free Palestine” and “Death to the IDF”, which were broadcast live by the BBC, while the Irish rap trio Kneecap wore Palestinian keffiyehs and also chanted “free, free Palestine”.
Avon and Somerset Police announced that “Video footage and audio from Bob Vylan and Kneecap’s performances at Glastonbury Festival on Saturday has been reviewed.”
“Following the completion of that assessment process we have decided further enquiries are required and a criminal investigation is now being undertaken. A senior detective has been appointed to lead this investigation,” the police statement adds.
“This has been recorded as a public order incident at this time while our enquiries are at an early stage. The investigation will be evidence-led and will closely consider all appropriate legislation, including relating to hate crimes,” it continues.
𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆:
Bob Vylan and Kneecap now under criminal investigation by UK police following incitement against Israelis at Glastonbury.
Avon & Somerset Police have announced they have reviewed video footage of both Bob Vylan and Kneecap and a “criminal investigation is… pic.twitter.com/lRePU2uHzU
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) June 30, 2025
“We have received a large amount of contact in relation to these events from people across the world and recognise the strength of public feeling,” the statement further iterated, urging “There is absolutely no place in society for hate.”
The statement adds, “Neighbourhood policing teams are speaking with people in their local communities and key stakeholders to make sure anyone who needs us knows that we are here for them. We hope the work we have carried out, and are continuing to carry out, reassures the public how seriously we are treating Saturday’s events.”
“We politely ask the public refrain from continuing to report this matter to us because an investigation is already taking place,” the statement concludes.
The BBC has also admitted it should have cut the live feed of Bob Vylan’s set, describing the chants as “utterly unacceptable” and “antisemitic”.
Prime Minister Kier Starmer called the IDF chants “appalling hate speech.”
British Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy told MPs that she called the BBC’s director general after the set was broadcast, demanding to know why the feed “wasn’t immediately cut”, and why it was broadcast live “given the concerns regarding other acts in the weeks preceding the festival.”
“When the rights and safety of people and communities are at risk, and when the national broadcaster fails to uphold its own standards, we will intervene,” she added, further noting she will continue to speak to the BBC on the matter.
Robinson-Foster also chanted “heard you want your country back… fuck you,” a jibe at Reform UK, the anti-illegal immigration political Party.
The comment prompted Reform leader Nigel Farage to respond:
If you vote Reform you can have your country back from these lunatics. https://t.co/wSJ35gja86
— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) June 28, 2025
The Trump administration has also effectively killed off Vylan’s scheduled American tour by revoking their visas over the chants.
BREAKING: The State Department has revoked the visas for British singer Bob Vylan and his band after Vylan led a “Death to the IDF” chant at a festival.
Vylan was set to go on a US tour in late October, which won’t be happening anymore.
“The State Department has revoked the US… pic.twitter.com/6CZt8EqE1P
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 30, 2025
US Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau wrote on X: “Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country.”
The Free Speech Union in the UK commented on the criminal investigation into the Glastonbury acts, noting that the cancellation of the visas “probably serves Bob Vylan right,” but pointing out that “a genuine commitment to free speech should require a threshold higher than what these morons have been accused of to attract criminal sanction.”
The group also issued a statement addressing the fact that comparisons have been made to the case of FSU member Lucy Connolly, who is currently serving 31 months in prison for an offensive social media post made in the aftermath of the Southport stabbings.
At Glastonbury last weekend, punk rap duo Bob Vylan led the crowd in chanting “Death, death to the IDF”, a provocative, politically charged slogan directed at Israel’s army. The performance was broadcast live by the BBC and has since prompted calls for the rappers’ arrest, with… pic.twitter.com/46wZGdrpMW
— The Free Speech Union (@SpeechUnion) June 30, 2025
The statement continues…
If the principle is that like cases should be treated alike, then yes — on a disinterested view of justice, the rappers should be prosecuted just as Lucy was. But we don’t believe any of them should be prosecuted.”
Lucy’s post was racially charged and called for hotels housing asylum seekers to be burned down. Even so, it was a spontaneous, emotional outburst that included the crucial caveat “for all I care”. Vylan’s chant was similarly public, but deliberate and directed at a military organisation — albeit one that comprises virtually the entire adult population of Israel.
The real issue here is not who said what, but the alarming scope of UK speech laws. In a country that properly respected freedom of expression, neither case would meet the threshold for criminal prosecution, because neither involved a direct incitement to specific violence. In the United States, the limits of free speech are defined by the First Amendment as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the landmark case Brandenburg v. Ohio. Under that test, even deeply offensive political speech is protected unless it is both intended and likely to incite imminent lawless action. That’s the standard we should aspire to.
Criminalising speech because it is felt to be deeply offensive by certain groups is an inherently subjective standard that is easily weaponised — or seen to have been weaponised — for political ends. If the Bob Vylan rappers are not prosecuted — which, to be clear, we don’t think they should — it will invite precisely the kind of accusations of ‘two-tier justice’ we’re now seeing, and further erode public confidence in the neutrality of the law.
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Author: Steve Watson
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