U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet with the family of murdered student Henry Nowak, after blaming billionaire Elon Musk for the unrest around his death.
Unrest in the United Kingdom continued another day following the release of the police body camera footage showing Nowak’s final moments. Starmer’s office announced that the prime minister would be meeting with the murdered student’s family in a private meeting at 10 Downing St. Starmer has repeatedly appealed to the call from Nowak’s father that his son’s murder should not stoke hate, with the Labour leader condemning political rivals for demanding reforms in policing in the face of the killing.
Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch also met with Nowak’s family.
“They have asked that we work across political parties and religions to rebuild trust in the police,” she said after the meeting. “That trust has been broken because of what happened, and I agree with them on that.
“We must also be prepared to examine, carefully and seriously, religious practices or exemptions that permit the carrying of dangerous weapons in public, and other activities that are not conducive to the public good,” Badenoch said. “We also need to examine where the law needs to change.”
Starmer’s focus on Thursday, however, was casting blame on Musk for the protests and riots that broke out following the release of the body cam footage, which showed police ignoring the dying Nowak’s pleas for help.
“We also need to assert who we are as a country because Musk again has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division,” Starmer said. “That is not who we are in Britain.
“In Britain we are reasonable, tolerant people,” he said. “When we have a terrible case like Henry’s case, Henry Nowak, we react calmly as his family has done.”
Starmer was joined by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, who portrayed Musk as the leader of a benevolent foreign influence operation.
“Musk’s actions are a coordinated campaign of foreign interference in British democracy by a rogue American tech billionaire who seems hellbent on injecting poison directly into our domestic politics,” Davey said.
“Let’s not forget this is a man who has repeatedly used his platform to incite violence on Britain’s streets,” he said.
Nowak, an 18-year-old university student, was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, late last year with a Sikh ceremonial blade. Police bodycam footage confirmed the most inflammatory details of reports about the murder, with police initially siding with Digwa after he accused the wounded Nowak of racism. The responding officers ignored Nowak’s pleas for several minutes, going so far as to handcuff him as he lost consciousness and died.
Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform Party has led the way in denouncing the police and government’s handling of the killing, portraying it as the natural conclusion of racial sensitivity training police officers receive, which Farage denounced as “two-tier policing.”
While praising the “dignified” response of Nowak’s family, Farage argued the public should react differently — “with pure cold rage.”
He backed up this sentiment in response to Labour’s criticism on Wednesday, suggesting the protests and riots on Tuesday highlighted the need for reform. Farage warned that the outrage and protests were “in danger of getting considerably worse” if action wasn’t quickly taken.
Much of the Labour Party’s response to Nowak’s murder has been condemning Farage and Reform, accusing them of “politicizing” the tragedy and going against the family’s wishes.
One of the most potent conduits of public anger has been Musk’s X, a space which has allowed British users an unimpeded outlet to voice their rage. Posts attacking the police, racial sensitivity training, and the government have garnered hundreds of thousands of likes. They’ve even drawn the personal attention of Musk himself, who has frequently posted about the matter.
“The West has created an utterly evil state religion where an accusation of ‘racism’ is the gravest offense that can be committed, even worse than rape or murder!” Musk wrote in a Wednesday post that garnered over 325,000 likes. “So if police show up at a crime scene and a British boy is bleeding out and an immigrant says the British boy is racist the cops will cuff the dying British boy.”
UK POLICE CLASH WITH PROTESTERS OVER MURDER OF HENRY NOWAK
Statements by the police and government drew viral and overwhelmingly negative responses, while users posted memes mocking official responses. A major refrain from commentators was to echo variations of “I don’t think you have, mate,” the response of one of the officers captured in bodycam footage after the dying Nowak said he had been stabbed.
“One of your officers has been receiving death threats? I don’t think he has, mate,” one user said in response to a statement from Hampshire Police, garnering nearly 44 times more likes than the statement.“‘Police are getting bricks thrown at their heads!’ ‘I don’t think they are mate,’” another viral post said.
