LONDON — Britain's interior minister accused activists of hijacking a tragedy to stir up violence after police were attacked at a protest over the death of a teenager who was handcuffed as he lay dying while his killer stood nearby.
Police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares on Tuesday by some of the hundreds of people who attended a protest in the English southern coastal city of Southampton, where Henry Nowak was killed in December. Two people were arrested and 11 officers and a police dog were injured, police said.
Nowak's death has triggered debates about policing and knife crime and has spurred claims by far-right activists and politicians that there is bias against white people in the justice system.
Nowak’s killer, Vickrum Digwa, who is Sikh, falsely claimed he was the victim of a racist assault by 18-year-old Nowak, who was white. When police officers arrived, they initially treated the wounded man as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday that the case had left "serious questions to answer, including how accusations of racism informed police thinking." But he called the street violence "disgraceful and completely unacceptable."
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Nowak's family had "made a powerful call to us all yesterday to not let Henry’s death be used to create further division, hatred or tension.
“There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder. Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law,” she said.
Digwa, 23, was convicted of murder and sentenced Monday to life in prison with a minimum term of 21 years. The judge said he didn’t believe Nowak had said anything racist to his attacker.
After the sentencing, police released video showing officers dismissing Nowak when he told them he had been stabbed and repeatedly said he couldn’t breathe.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct, which investigates allegations of police wrongdoing, is probing the actions of the officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it will review its anti-racism guidance in the wake of the killing.
After the sentencing hearing, the victim’s father, Mark Nowak, said the case was not about racism or religion, and that he wanted his son’s death to lead to safer streets and not to be used to create “further division, hatred or tension.”
But Nigel Farage, leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said on Tuesday that it was an example of so-called two-tier policing — a popular far-right talking point that claims ethnic minorities are better treated than white people.
Farage urged people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage,” and said, “white lives matter just as much as Black lives.” X owner Elon Musk and British far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, have also expressed outrage at the crime.
Starmer said Farage's “appeal for rage” was “unforgivable.”
“I don’t believe there’s two-tier policing in this country," he said Wednesday in the House of Commons. “I’m really shocked that he pretends to have respect for Henry’s family and then acts in this way.”
In the wake of the killing, some politicians have called for Sikhs to be banned from carrying ceremonial knives, known as kirpans. The judge said Digwa had a small kirpan but also had an 8-inch (21-centimeter) sheathed Sikh dagger that was used as the weapon to kill Nowak.
Hampshire Police chief constable Alexis Boon said he understood the “desire for answers and accountability.”
“But that must be done in the right way and not used as an excuse to threaten and intimidate my officers and bring violence to our streets, causing fear and harm to those living and working in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight,” he said.