The Trump administration has called for an end to “two-tier” policing in the UK in the wake of Henry Nowak’s murder, in comments likely to infuriate Sir Keir Starmer’s government.
In a post on X, the US state department wrote: “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.”
Bodycam footage from the night Mr Nowak was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa shows that police handcuffed the 18-year-old as he lay on the ground, despite his repeated pleas that he could not breathe, after his killer falsely claimed he had been the victim of a racist attack. He died shortly after.
The fact that he was handcuffed after that false claim was made, despite repeatedly saying he had been stabbed, sparked claims from Reform and the Conservatives that the UK has a “two-tier” police system that favours ethnic minorities.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage argued that Mr Nowak’s death echoed the 2020 murder of George Floyd in the United States and called for “an end to DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and positive discrimination.”
Mr Floyd’s death sparked global Black Lives Matter protests and scrutiny of racial injustice in policing across the US, with data showing US police kill roughly 1,200 people each year. According to policedata.org, Black people in the US were subject to overall police use of force at a rate 3.2 times greater than white people in 2022.
Following Mr Nowak’s death, Mr Farage also called for the public to respond with “pure, cold rage” which led to violent protests near where Mr Nowak was murdered.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Mr Farage’s actions were “unforgivable” and accused him of “only pretending” to sympathise with the teenager’s family, who had specifically appealed for their son’s death not to be used to create division.
Mr Nowak’s family have also called on politicians to rebuild trust in the police as they stressed they “do not want anger to tear communities apart” in the wake of their son’s murder.
In a meeting with Kemi Badenoch, Mr Nowak’s mother, father and stepmother agreed that the UK needs to “bring common sense back” to policing and how equality is treated under the law.
HM Inspectorate of Constabulary has “agreed in principle” to conduct an inspection of the “culture and performance” of Hampshire police, following a request by the county’s police and crime commissioner Donna Jones.
It will be the second investigation into the force and will go further than the inquiry by the Independent Office for Police Misconduct which is investigating if the officers breached rules.
