‘We cannot allow the color of someone’s skin to be a consideration in how the police … treat people,’ British Conservative lawmaker Chris Philp said.
The circumstances surrounding the death of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, a white student who was stabbed by a Sikh man last year and then handcuffed by police as he lay dying after being falsely suspected of racism, have sparked a debate over alleged discrimination by police in the UK.
Nowak was killed in Southampton, England, on Dec. 3, 2025, but the incident drew renewed attention after Vickrum Digwa was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years in prison on June 1, and following the release of a video showing police dismissing Nowak when he said that he had been stabbed. Digwa had told police he was the victim of a racist attack.
In the video captured by an officer’s body-worn camera, Nowak can be heard saying, “I can’t breathe,” echoing the words of George Floyd, whose death launched a wave of Black Lives Matter protests in 2020.
Hundreds of protesters demonstrated outside the main police station in Southampton on the evening of June 2, and several people were arrested.
In a June 2 post on X to his 240 million followers, tech billionaire Elon Musk wrote, “Did you know that official police policy requires them to be racist against Whites? It is deeply wrong and must change NOW.”
It was one of several posts by Musk about the Nowak story. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on June 4 that Musk was interfering in UK politics and “trying to whip up division.”
Chief Constable Gavin Stephens, chair of the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said in an email to The Epoch Times that black communities have the lowest levels of confidence in the police, and addressing that had been the focus of a recent Police Race Action Plan.
“It is essential that we police without fear or favour in keeping the peace and enforcing the law,“ Stephens said. ”We must do so to earn the confidence of all communities.”
Chris Hobbs, a former Metropolitan Police officer and policing commentator, wrote in a June 2 article on the Police Oracle website that the officers involved in the Nowak incident would have been devastated by his death.
“Police critics on all sides conveniently forget that police, when attending traumatic events, do act with both bravery and compassion,” he said.
Hobbs pointed out that while the criticism now was coming from the right, in the past, members of black activist groups, Muslim organizations, pro-Palestinian activists, Iranian dissident groups, and even soccer fans have all claimed to be the victims of “two-tier policing.”
