Folks maintain pictures of sufferer Henry Nowak and blood-covered handcuffs as they participate in a protest outdoors of Southampton Central Police Station in Southampton, southern England, on Tuesday.
Justin Tallis/AFP through Getty Photographs
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Justin Tallis/AFP through Getty Photographs
LONDON — Video footage of a British scholar who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying of stab wounds has sparked anger and triggered violent riots in Britain.
Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak was wrongly arrested as he lay dying on the street, after he was falsely accused of a racist assault. Nowak was stabbed by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa in Southampton, in Southern England, in December 2025. Digwa, a British Sikh man, lied to the police by falsely claiming that Nowak, who was white, had racially abused him. Consequently, police initially arrested Nowak fairly than his attacker. Digwa has since been convicted and sentenced to life in jail.
However police bodycam footage launched this week has sparked outrage throughout Britain and led to a debate about policing. Footage exhibits officers handcuffing Nowak – who seems unable to maneuver – as he repeatedly tells them he has been stabbed and that he cannot breathe. At one level, a police officer might be heard saying “You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts? I don’t think you have, mate.” Later, the law enforcement officials proceed to learn Nowak his rights, as he turns into unresponsive.
The case has develop into political, too. Some on the suitable of British politics have claimed police are biased in opposition to white folks, calling this Britain’s “George Floyd moment.” Tech billionaire Elon Musk has additionally waded into the controversy, posting a number of occasions on X – which he owns – criticizing the way in which British police handled {the teenager}.
On Tuesday night time, violent riots erupted in Southampton, in southern England, near the place the homicide occurred. Rioters threw bricks and rubbish cans at police and chanted, “Henry, Henry,” and “I can’t breathe.” Far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose actual identify is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, addressed the group of protesters.
Earlier this week, Reform U.Okay. chief Nigel Farage launched a video assertion the place he claimed Nowak’s arrest was an instance of “anti-white prejudice”, and in contrast it to the 2020 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, which sparked the Black Lives Matter motion.
“What does he say? I can’t breathe. Familiar words. Remember career criminal George Floyd, who died in appalling circumstances in Midwest America a few years ago. Remember the reaction to that?,” Farage, a far-right politician, says, suggesting there hasn’t been the identical degree of shock amongst British politicians to Nowak’s killing as there was to George Floyd’s. Farage then goes on to name on the British public to react to the homicide with “pure, cold rage.”
In response to U.Okay. authorities figures, Black individuals are over two occasions as prone to be arrested as white folks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer – who mentioned he “felt sick” watching the video of Nowak’s arrest – has accused Farage of “exploiting the tragedy” for political achieve. Farage was heckled in Parliament this week when he recommended Nowak’s arrest was an instance of a “two-tier” policing system that’s prejudiced in opposition to white folks.
Starmer has hit again at Musk, too, saying the billionaire is “trying to whip up division” over Nowak’s homicide.
“We need to also assert who we are as a country, because Musk, again, has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division – that is not who we are in Britain. In Britain we are reasonable, tolerant people, ” Starmer advised reporters on Thursday.
A police watchdog is investigating the conduct of the law enforcement officials who handcuffed Nowak. There may even be a evaluation into anti-racism tips given to British police forces.
The chief of Britain’s Nationwide Black Police Affiliation, Andy George, has warned about making adjustments to anti-racism steerage, telling the BBC that such adjustments threat being “reactive” and “not well thought-out.”
Henry Nowak’s household spoke outdoors court docket earlier this week, after their son’s assassin had been sentenced. Their message was clear. “We want to use Henry’s heartbreaking story to make change for the better,” Nowak’s father, Mark, mentioned.
“We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred, or tension.”
