The United States has offered its condolences to the family of Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old white student who was wrongly accused of racism and then handcuffed by police in England as he lay dying after being stabbed by a 23-year-old British-born Sikh.
“Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West,” the State Department wrote in a June 4 post.
“The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”
Nowak was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwain on Dec. 3, 2025.
Digwa was jailed after a trial heard he had reported to police that he was the victim of a racist attack by Nowak.
While officers who arrived at the scene on a residential street appeared to take him at his word, the court determined that Digwa had lied about being the victim of racism.
In the video, Nowak is seen lying on his back, telling police he had been stabbed as they grab his wrists and try to make him sit up. He repeatedly says he can’t breathe.
“You’ve been stabbed? Whereabouts?” an officer says in the video. “Don’t think you have, mate.”
The case has triggered a national debate in the UK about “two-tier policing” after body-worn camera footage was released on June 1, following the sentencing of Digwa.
The phrase “two-tier policing” was originally coined in Northern Ireland in the 1990s to refer to allegedly different levels of policing offered to the Catholic/nationalist community and the Protestant/unionist community.
But in the summer of 2024, the term came into common usage in England when protests and riots broke out in the wake of the murder of three young white girls by Axel Rudakubana, the British-born son of Rwandan immigrants.
Politicians have criticized the Hampshire Police’s handling of the incident, which is now being investigated by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC).
In a June 3 post on X, Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, said everyone except British Prime Minister Keir Starmer could see that a two-tier state of policing existed in the UK.
Farage: Police Obsessed With DEI
In another post, Farage said the UK’s police were obsessed with diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“White people are not being treated fairly or equally under the law,” Farage said. “We must end two-tier policing.”
Elon Musk wrote in a June 2 post on X that “the West has created an utterly evil state religion where an accusation of ‘racism’ is the gravest offense that can be committed, even worse than rape or murder!”
“So if police show up at a crime scene and a British boy is bleeding out, and an immigrant says the British boy is racist, the cops will cuff the dying British boy,” he added.
Starmer responded on June 4 by saying it was “unforgivable” for people to exploit Nowak’s death to stir up racial tensions.
“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,” Starmer told reporters.
Starmer’s leadership of the ruling Labour Party, and therefore his role as prime minister, could be challenged this summer if Andy Burnham, currently the mayor of Greater Manchester, wins a by-election on June 18 in Makerfield.
Appearing on a by-election special episode of the BBC’s “Question Time” program, Burnham said: “I can’t do anything unless I’m lucky enough to get the support of people here [in Makerfield]. But if I get your support, I would seek to represent you at the highest possible level.”
Burnham Wants ‘Careful Debate’ on Knives
Burnham also said there might be a need to revisit the legal exemption that allows Sikh men to carry ceremonial daggers, known as kirpans, which are part of their religious faith.
When asked whether he would support the removal of the exemption, Burnham said, “In a world where we have serious challenges, I think it needs to be looked at, although it needs a very careful debate.”
Nowak’s father, Mark Nowak, told reporters outside Southampton Crown Court on June 1 that “people should not be able to walk openly through the streets of Britain carrying a 21cm [8 inch] blade.”
At the heart of the debate is a document called the Police Race Action Plan, which was published in March 2025 by the College of Policing and the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC)—two bodies that guide policing in England and Wales—and states that “achieving an anti-racist police service” means improving “the police responses to crime, antisocial behaviour and concerns for safety.”
“It is essential that we police without fear or favour in keeping the peace and enforcing the law. We must do so to earn the confidence of all communities,” Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the NPCC, said in a statement emailed to The Epoch Times.
Stephens said people from black communities have the lowest levels of confidence in the police, and recent independent inquiries, such as that led by Baroness Louise Casey, have urged the police to address racism and discrimination.
“We are listening to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments are worded or phrased, and where needed, we can and will make changes, but this should not detract from the intent, which is to improve the quality of policing,” Stephens said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Friends Read Free
Copy
Facebook
Tweet
