Kneecap legal bills crowdfunder still running, days after case thrown out - cash appeal pledging 'transparency' doesn't mention terror charge dropped
A crowdfunder getting fans to pay for legal bills on Kneecap member Mo Chara’s terror case is still running, days after the case was thrown out on a technicality.
The CrowdJustice appeal, which Kneecap stated was set up by “some friends” to “take on the British witch-hunt”, is set to put over £55,000 into the group’s hands to pay for lawyers for the rapper, real name Liam Og O hAnnaidh.
Launched in June, the crowdfunder has repeatedly had its initial 30-day deadline extended, and is now due to stop at the end of this week. Last Friday, the case was thrown out on a legal technicality – something the cash drive, which pledges “transparency is a priority”, doesn’t mention.
As of Monday afternoon, the CrowdJustice appeal had £55,065 pledged to cover O hAnnaidh’s legal costs. From statements on the page, the people behind it are hoping to rake in £100,000.
Launched with a target of £30,000, the funding bid looked in danger of missing that amount as its initial deadline of mid-July loomed. If it had failed to hit that amount of cash, the group would have got nothing.
The appeal raked in more than £19,000 over its first few days, around the time of O hAnnaidh’s first court appearance in mid-June.
Then the amount of donations fell off. In the appeal’s first few days around 750 fans threw cash at the band, but over the next three weeks only about 150 more joined them and the deadline was extended by a month. It’s since been put back again.
The News Letter highlighted the deadline extension in July; for several days afterwards, donations continued to trickle in – only to abruptly leap in the number of pledges received.
In less than 48 hours, the crowdfunder’s coffers shot from over £23,000 to more than £52,000, with the number pledging money jumping from less than 1,000 to over 2,400. That means about twice as many fans donated in less than two days than did during the initial flurry of activity when it first launched.
Donations then slowed to a trickle again, and with less than £3,000 from under 100 people coming in over the last nine weeks.
The people behind the appeal state the money raised will “help cover legal fees and experts skilled in handling complex cases sensitive to artistic and free speech rights”.
Kneecap, whose best-known songs include ‘Get Your Brits Out’ and the drug-referencing ‘3CAG’, are described in the cash drive as “by their very existence bold and provocative, prompting necessary conversations around political and social issues”.
The money-raising appeal doesn’t mention the fact that the case no longer exists, instead asserting O hAnnaidh “is currently facing charges that have raised significant concerns about artistic freedom and expression”.
The appeal promises “regular updates on the progress of the case and details of how funds are being used”, adding: “Transparency is a priority for us.”
O hAnnaidh was accused of displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist group Hezbollah at a London gig last November. There’s a six-month time limit on bringing such charges; the musician was charged six months to the day after the alleged display, but the charge wasn’t signed off by chief prosecutors until the day after, resulting in the collapse of the case.