British police announced on Tuesday that no further action will be taken regarding remarks made against the IDF during a performance by punk duo Bob Vylan at the Glastonbury music festival in June, Reuters reported.
"We have concluded, after reviewing all the evidence, that it does not meet the criminal threshold outlined by the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service] for any person to be prosecuted," Avon and Somerset Police said.
During the show, lead singer Bobby Vylan led chants of "death, death to the IDF". The performance drew sharp condemnation from Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Israeli Embassy in London. The BBC faced criticism for continuing to livestream the set despite the inflammatory content. It later apologized.
Police said there was insufficient evidence for a “realistic prospect of conviction” after interviewing a man in his mid-30s and contacting around 200 members of the public during the investigation.
In a statement Tuesday, the Avon and Somerset Police said they considered “the intent behind the words, the wider context, case law, and freedom-of-speech issues” before deciding to close the investigation.
"We believe it is right this matter was comprehensively investigated, every potential criminal offence was thoroughly considered, and we sought all the advice we could to ensure we made an informed decision," the force said.
“The comments made on Saturday 28 June drew widespread anger, proving that words have real-world consequences,” the statement added. The police noted that they engaged with Jewish community groups throughout the process.
Following the performance, Bob Vylan was banned from entering the United States ahead of a 20-city tour after the State Department revoked their visa, citing concerns about glorifying violence and hatred. The group was also dropped from a European tour, a German venue, a Manchester music festival, and faced a police investigation.
In October, group member Bobbie Vylan claimed in an interview that BBC staff actually praised his Glastonbury performance.
“We come off stage. It’s normal. Nobody thought anything. Nobody. Even staff at the BBC were like: ‘That was fantastic! We loved that!’” he claimed.
“Nobody at the BBC at that time was there like: ‘Oh my gosh.’ You know… it was very normal. And then we got back and… we went and got ice cream,” added Vylan.