Tensions over the murder of student Henry Nowak boiled over on Tuesday, with police and protesters clashing after police body camera footage of his final moments was released.
Nowak, an 18-year-old university student, was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, with a Sikh ceremonial blade. Police bodycam footage confirmed the most inflammatory details of reports about the murder, with police initially siding with Digwa after he accused the wounded Nowak of racism. The responding officers ignored Nowak’s pleas for several minutes, going so far as to handcuff him as he lost consciousness and died. The release of the footage caused an outpouring of rage from the British public, culminating in hundreds of protesters demonstrating, at times clashing with police near the site of Nowak’s death.
Recommended Stories
Protests began outside of Southampton Central police station, then took a violent turn as protesters marched to the home of Digwa, the location of Nowak’s death.
The height of the riots featured demonstrators throwing bricks, rocks, bottles, cans, flares, and trash cans at lines of riot police.
The protesters chanted Nowak’s final ignored plea to the police, “I can’t breathe!”
Other chants included “Racist police, off our streets!” and “Shame on you!” Signs were seen with messages such as, “Henry’s blood is on your hands,” “Save our kids,” and “Prison 4 police on scene.”
The chief constable of Hampshire police, Alexis Boon, claimed 11 officers were injured in the clashes, along with a police dog. Two people were arrested, and Boon promised more.
“What we, as a society, cannot accept is the violent scenes we saw in Southampton last night,” Boon said. “Some clearly arrived intent on causing disorder and trouble. We saw bottles thrown, makeshift weapons used, damage caused to the homes and vehicles of innocent residents, and threats and violence directed towards our officers.
“While we are forced to deal with those determined to spark fear and division, our finite resources are taken away from those who need it most,” he added.
Boon said police would retain a visible presence in the city’s streets in the coming days to ensure order.
The limited riot sparked condemnations across the country from the Labour Party and other left-wing groups, who accused the ascendant Reform Party of stoking the violence. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, speaking on the floor of Parliament on Wednesday, directly accused Reform leader Nigel Farage of fanning the flames of violence, saying it was against the wishes of Nowak’s father.
“Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances, but to do it when the family are expressly saying, ‘please don’t,’ is unforgivable. It shows exactly who he is,” Starmer said, gesturing to Farage.
In a Tuesday video address, Farage spoke out against the racial sensitivity training police officers received, calling it “two-tier policing.” While praising the “dignified” response of Nowak’s family, he argued the public should react differently — “with pure cold rage.”
He backed up this sentiment in response to Labour’s criticism on Wednesday, suggesting the protests and riots on Tuesday highlighted the need for reform.
“It is now clear to growing millions in this country that we’re living under two-tier policing,” Farage said, drawing audible outrage and shouts from his opponents in Parliament. “The instructions that are given to police officers from police bosses are clear and written down in ink. It says you must treat different ethnic groups in different ways. That, apart from the upset and the anger at the circumstances of his death, the anger that you saw spilling out in Southampton last night.”
“Which is in danger of getting considerably worse,” he continued after the interruptions, prompting further interruptions. “If the public loses trust in being treated fairly by the police. Can he take some action to end this divisive practice of two-tier policing, and make sure that all British citizens are treated the same?”
X served as a major outlet for rage against the British police and government, with statements by the police and government drawing viral and overwhelmingly negative responses. A major refrain from commentators was to echo variations of “I don’t think you have, mate,” the response of one of the officers captured in bodycam footage after the dying Nowak said he had been stabbed.
“One of your officers has been receiving death threats? I don’t think he has, mate,” one user said in response to a statement from Hampshire Police, garnering nearly 44 times more likes than the statement.
THE UNITED KINGDOM’S GROOMING GANGS
“‘Police are getting bricks thrown at their heads!’ ‘I don’t think they are mate,’” another viral post said.
The protests and riots around the death of Nowak are the latest in a string of major demonstrations that have wracked the United Kingdom since 2024, as the country comes to grips with the backlash to demographic change in the country from mass immigration. A running theme of frustrations from right-wing groups revolves around the perceived milquetoast police response to crime involving minority groups, particularly when directed against native white Britons. Tensions around race and immigration have grown considerably following revelations around the proliferation of ethnic Pakistani pedophilic rape gangs that terrorized thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of white British girls over the years, and the lack of a response from police who feared accusations of racism and prioritized societal cohesion.
