The murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak by an Indian-origin man in the United Kingdom has sparked global outrage, with U.S Vice President JD Vance being the latest to blame the British government’s handling of the case, which he said was a civilisational decline caused by an “invasion” of migrants.
Nowak died from stab wounds inflicted on him by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa in the southern city of Southampton in December. Digwa had called the police after the stabbing, accusing Nowak of racial attacks. Law enforcement, with permission from the victim’s family, released a bodycam footage earlier this week, showing the police handcuffing Nowak as he was dying and repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe. Digwa was seen standing a few steps away. The footage sparked outrage, with leader of the right-wing Reform UK Party Nigel Farage urging the public to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage”. People took to the streets of Southampton to protest against Nowak’s death, leading to riots.
Vance posted on X, “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit. His murder is as tragic as it is enraging.”
Trump’s second-in-command has been a longtime critic of European migration policies and called for “righteous anger” in response to the incident.
“He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it,” added Vance “Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last.”
Vance, who has an Indian-origin wife, has repeatedly pushed for theories of Western civilisational decline due to mass migration.
Billionaire Elon Musk, known for his strong stance on anti-immigration, also shared posts on his platform X, criticising the police’s response to the stabbing.
The U.S State Department condemned the case on Thursday, calling the incident a circumstance of “ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing”.
Starmer rejects third-party intervention
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticised outside persons, including Musk, for interfering in matters related to Britain, accusing them of trying to cause division.
A spokesperson for Starmer said in a statement, “We have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.”
The spokesperson also highlighted that Nowak’s family had said they did not want his death “to be used to create further division, hatred, or tension”.
