US President JD Vance on Friday accused Britain’s handling of the killing of a white student by a Sikh man of reflecting a wider “civilizational decline” brought on by an “invasion” of migrants, comments that drew a swift rebuke from British prime minister Keir Starmer’s office as improper interference.
Posting on X, Vance said: “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit.” He added: “His murder is as tragic as it is enraging,” and urged a response of “righteous anger.”
The remarks concern the case of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying after being stabbed in Southampton in December. The killing, and video of the police response, have become a flashpoint for right-wing outrage and have helped spark riots in parts of Britain.
Authorities say the attacker, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, lied to police by claiming he had been the victim and alleging that Nowak had racially abused him. The incident has prompted widespread online debate over policing, migration and political rhetoric.
Tech billionaire Elon Musk, owner of X and described in the report as a friend of Vance’s, has posted repeatedly about the police response. The U.S. State Department weighed in on Thursday, condemning what it described as “ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing” that contributed to the case. Vance is now the highest-ranking official in the Trump administration to comment publicly on the matter.
Vance argued the killing illustrated failures by recent European elites to resist what he called the politics of self-hatred and mass migration, saying, “He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground…” and warning that “Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last.”
The British government rejected the U.S. intervention. A spokesperson for Prime Minister Starmer said: “We have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.” The spokesperson also noted that Nowak’s family had asked that his killing not “be used to create further division, hatred or tension.” Starmer separately accused Musk of “trying to whip up division” in Britain.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Original Source: https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/jd-vance-blames-eu-migration-policy-for-uk-students-murder-11598030#publisher=newsstand
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Publish Date: 2026-06-06 07:53:00
