U.K. police say Bob Vylan, Kneecap gigs at Glastonbury subject to criminal investigation

U.K. police say the weekend performances by rap punk duo Bob Vylan and Irish-language band Kneecap are subject to a criminal investigation after chants calling for "death" to the Israeli military and chants of "Free Palestine" at the Glastonbury Festival.

Police on Monday said the performances "have been recorded as a public order incident."

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department said it has revoked the U.S. visas for Bob Vylan after the group created controversy for its comments at the music festival.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau said in a post on social media the decision was made "in light of their hateful tirade at Glastonbury."

Earlier Monday, the BBC said it should have pulled a livestream of Bob Vylan's performance, in which the group led crowds of music fans in chants the British broadcaster called "antisemitic."

The BBC has come under heavy criticism for broadcasting the rap punk duo's performance Saturday, when Bobby Vylan led crowds attending the U.K.'s largest summer music festival in chants of "free, free Palestine" and "death, death to the IDF," the Israel Defence Forces. 

The broadcaster said Monday that it "respects freedom of expression but stands firmly against incitement to violence" and that the "antisemitic sentiments expressed by Bob Vylan were utterly unacceptable and have no place on our airwaves." 

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there was no excuse for such "appalling hate speech" and added the BBC must explain "how these scenes came to be broadcast."

Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, said it was "very concerned" about the BBC livestream and said the broadcaster "clearly has questions to answer."

Earlier, in its defence, the BBC noted it had issued a warning on screen about "very strong and discriminatory language" during the livestream.

The Israeli Embassy to the U.K. said over the weekend it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival."

Bob Vylan, which formed in 2017, have released four albums mixing punk, grime and other styles with lyrics that often address issues including racism, masculinity and politics. Its two members both keep their real names secret for privacy reasons and go by the stage names Bobby Vylan and Bobbie Vylan.

In a statement posted on social media, singer Bobby Vylan said he was inundated with messages of both support and hatred. 

"Teaching our children to speak up for the change they want and need is the only way that we make this world a better place," he wrote.