Henry Novak's murder prompts Trump administration to respond with questions over UK policing system
Topics: Crime, UK News, Donald Trump, Politics, News
Rhianna Benson
Featured Image Credit: Evan Vucci-Pool/Getty Images/Police Handout
Topics: Crime, UK News, Donald Trump, Politics, News
Donald Trump's team have responded to the murder of British teenager Henry Nowak, calling for an end to alleged 'two-tier' policing in the UK.
Nowak, 18, was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in December 2025 while walking to his Southampton university accommodation last week.
After attacking the student, Digwa's brother called the police, alleging that he'd been the victim of a racist attack.
In gut-wrenching body cam footage, Hampshire Police officers are seen handcuffing Nowak as he lays dying.
Advert
The teen repeated tells the arresting officers that he's been stabbed and cannot breathe. He died shortly afterwards.
The attack has since served as an opportunity for some political leaders to allege the country has a 'two-tier' police system in place, whereby ethnic minorities are favoured over white individuals.
Reform UK frontman Nigel Farage called for an 'an end to DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] and positive discrimination' in comments that sparked mass violent riots from right-wing voters.
Farage also claimed Nowak's murder echoed the 2020 killing of George Floyd at the hands of a police officer, which sparked Black Lives Matter protests and criticism of racial injustice across US policing.
He called for the British public to respond to Nowak's death with 'pure, cold rage', despite the teenager's father imploring with politicians not to use his son's death as a tool to incite hatred.
Trump, a longtime associate of Farage, has since publicly supported the Reform UK leader's plight, issuing a series of remarks about the attack on X.
The official US State Department wrote in a statement: "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."
The US President's comments were issued after Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, condemned Farage in Parliament for directly contradicting the wishes of Nowak's family in inciting widespread protests, slamming his actions as 'unforgivable'.
Starmer also accused Farage of 'only pretending' to sympathise with the parents of the murdered teen as to to create further division.
"A grieving family have asked us not to respond in the way that the leader of Reform has responded," he told MPs on Thursday (4 Jun). "My response - and the response of others, to be fair - has focused on the lessons to be learned, so we can deliver justice.
"His response has been to appeal for rage. Rage – that's his response to a father who's lost his son and asked for that not to happen."
Starmer continued: "Exploiting this tragedy to create grievance and division would be wrong in any circumstances. But to do it when the family are expressly saying 'please don't' is unforgivable.
"It shows exactly who he is."
Nowak's parents emphasised in a statement they 'do not want anger to tear communities apart', calling for politicians to rebuild trust between the police and the British public.
Speaking to Kemi Badenoch, his mother and father also agreed that leaders need to 'bring common sense back' into policing with regards to equality.
Alex Boon, the chief constable of Hampshire Police, has slammed the notion of a 'two-tier' system beingn in place in the UK.
"I would say absolutely not," he told Sky News. "I see officers day in, day out, on the ground, serving without fear or favour all our communities. And I think that's the case nationally."
Asked if he believes British policing is anti-white, he said, 'No I don't', adding: "To be really clear, I do not think policing is racist. There are racist individuals within policing. Of course there are, and there have always been. And we will tackle that and deal with it."
Digwa was sentenced to life with a minimum of 21 years for Nowak's murder.