Protests over the December murder of an 18-year-old descended into violence in the UK on Tuesday, as influential figures on America’s far right sought to exploit the situation to claim it was evidence of widespread antiwhite racism.
Police were attacked with rocks and flares outside Southampton Central Police Station and arrests were made after hundreds gathered in anger over the release of bodycam footage showing Henry Nowak being handcuffed as he lay dying while his killer, Vickrum Digwa, stood nearby.
Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
Digwa was jailed for life on Monday for murdering Nowak in December 2025. At the time, Digwa, a Sikh, lied to police and told them he had been racially abused. This led police to handcuff Nowak, despite the teenager repeatedly saying he couldn’t breathe and that he had been stabbed. A police officer can be heard replying: “Don’t think you have, mate.”
Outside of court on Monday, Nowak’s father called the police’s actions “inhumane and degrading” but clearly stated, “We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”
However, within hours, far-right figures on both sides of the Atlantic were seeking to take advantage of the anger caused by Nowak’s death, with many posts on social media claiming the death was evidence of antiwhite racism racking up millions of views.
Central to this was Elon Musk, the SpaceX CEO who has posted dozens of times about the cases over the last 24 hours, including an offer to fund the prosecution of police officers involved in the case. “Official police policy requires them to be racist against whites,” Musk wrote.
Far-right agitator Tommy Robinson
Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images
Musk also shared a video from far-right British agitator Tommy Robinson calling on people to gather outside Southampton Central Police State on Tuesday night, echoing calls from Reform Party leader Nigel Farage for people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage.”
“I heard someone say this wasn’t about race; this is about race,” Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, told the crowd. Later, protesters were blocked from entering the street where Digwa lived with his family, the BBC reported.
Stoking Tensions
UK Home secretary Shabana Mahmood called the violence “completely unacceptable” and condemned those stoking tensions: “There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder.”
But far-right figures in America continued to push the antiwhite narrative.
“You will be called racist for standing up for the West, or watch your boy bleed out on camera,” right-wing podcaster and conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich posted on X.
Matt Walsh, who earlier in the week called Nowak’s murder the “systemic hatred, oppression, and marginalization of white people,” shared footage of the protests in Southampton, writing: “Inspiring to see. The indigenous peoples of the UK have had enough. Finally.”
George Floyd Comparison
Many figures on the right have compared Nowak’s death to George Floyd, including Katie Miller, podcaster and wife of key Trump adviser Stephen Miller. “Keir Starmer spoke out publicly about George Floyd at least seven times,” Miller wrote in response to a post from the UK prime minister. “He has mentioned Henry Nowak’s name only once. Why is the standard different for a crime against a white man?”
Nick Fuentes, a white nationalist, focused on the Nowak murder on his nightly show on Rumble on Tuesday evening, calling it “the white George Floyd” and claiming the Digwa should be executed. “Unless white people are willing to fight for a place in this world, then we are going to ԁіе,” Fuentes said.
Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Images/Getty Images
He also posted about the murder on X, writing: “This is an allegory for what is happening to European civilization on a global scale.”
This is not the first time that Musk and the American far right have been accused of inciting violence in the UK and other European countries. In 2024, Musk was widely blamed for his role in fomenting anti-immigration riots in the UK, and in 2023 Musk and figures like Steve Bannon stoked calls for civil war in Ireland in the wake of riots in the capital.
