US government criticises ‘two-tier’ UK policing after Henry Nowak murder

The US state department has criticised “two-tiered policing” in Britain in a social media post offering condolences to the family of the murder victim Henry Nowak, in a thinly veiled rebuke of the UK government.

The 18-year-old student’s murder has been claimed by some as evidence of two-tier policing in the UK – the argument that some groups of people are dealt with more harshly than others for ideological reasons.

Nowak was handcuffed by Hampshire police officers as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer, Vickrum Digwa, had falsely accused him of racist abuse. Digwa was ultimately convicted of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years.

The owner of X, Elon Musk, and the Reform UK leader, Nigel Farage, are among those to have claimed the circumstances of Nowak’s death in Southampton were evidence of bias against white people. Both have in turn been accused of exploiting the teenager’s death.

On Thursday night the US state department, responsible for foreign policy and led by Marco Rubio, waded in to the debate. In a post on X, the department said: “Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilisational decline. They must be rejected across the West. The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time.”

David Lammy, the UK’s deputy prime minister, told Sky News on Friday that he welcomed the US government’s condolences to the Nowak family but said he did not recognise “this caricature of Britain having a two-tier criminal justice system”.

Keir Starmer on Thursday accused Musk of “interfering in our politics” and attempting to create division.

Musk is a regular poster of ethno-nationalist content, and a supporter of Restore Britain, the hard-right party set up by Rupert Lowe, a former Reform UK MP.

He has posted for weeks on his social media platform about Nowak’s murder, often using far-right themes and talking points.

Starmer met Nowak’s family at Downing Street on Thursday to discuss a response to the actions of Hampshire police, saying afterwards that he had been “profoundly humbled” and had promised to take “whatever action is required to right the wrongs in this case”.

The police watchdog, the Independent Office of Police Conduct, is examining the behaviour of the officers who handcuffed Nowak after he had been fatally stabbed.

Eleven police officers and one police dog were injured on Tuesday night after crowds including far-right agitators attacked officers in Southampton in what was billed as a protest about Nowak’s death and his treatment by police.