The death sparked violent protests in the U.K. and a fierce debate about British policing.
The U.K. government denounced “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division,” after U.S. Vice President JD Vance’s comments over the death of British teenager Henry Nowak.
Vance blamed the death of the 18-year-old, who was killed last year in the southern city of Southampton, on the West’s “politics of self-hatred” and “the mass invasion of migrants.”
The Nowak’s death has sparked a fierce debate about policing in the U.K., triggered by recently released camera footage that showed police officers handcuffing the teenager after his murderer, Vickrum Digwa, falsely accused him of racism.
A statement from Downing Street late Friday said Nowak’s family “do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension.”
Violent protests broke out earlier this week as details of Nowak’s death emerged and spurred claims the U.K. has a “two-tiered” justice system that is biased against white people.
Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh, who stabbed Nowak with a knife he claimed to be carrying for religious reasons, was sentenced to life in jail on Monday.
In his post on Friday, Vance wrote that “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities. … His murder is as tragic as it is enraging.”
Earlier in the week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer accused Elon Musk of interfering in British politics after the owner of the X social media platform posted a flurry of comments about Nowak’s death.