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Euronews
Euronews
Gavin Blackburn

US Vice President JD Vance slams UK's 'enraging' handling of student murder

US Vice President JD Vance condemned Britain's handling of the murder of a white student by a Sikh man on Friday, linking it to what he said was civilisational decline caused by mass migration.

"Henry Nowak died the same way a civilisation dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit," Vance said on X.

"His murder is as tragic as it is enraging."

The case of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, who was handcuffed by police as he lay dying after being stabbed by Vickrum Digwa in the southern city of Southampton in December, has become highly politicised in the UK.

US Vice President JD Vance looks on as cadets march on to the field during the United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium, 28 May, 2026 (US Vice President JD Vance looks on as cadets march on to the field during the United States Air Force Academy Graduation Ceremony at Falcon Stadium, 28 May, 2026)

Digwa, 23, lied and told police he was the victim and that Nowak had racially insulted him.

Now President Donald Trump's administration is increasingly weighing in, with Vance, a long-term critic of European migration policies, becoming the highest-ranking US official to comment on the killing.

"He should still be alive today and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it," Vance added.

"Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life and I fear he won’t be the last."

The US State Department accused Britain of "two-tiered policing" in a statement on Thursday.

Tech tycoon Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, has also posted numerous times on the platform about the police response to the stabbing.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Musk on Thursday of "trying to whip up division" in Britain.

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