Farage urged people to respond to the incident with “pure cold rage,” and called for an end to “anti-white prejudice” and the promotion of the idea “that white lives matter just as much as Black lives.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rejected that there are different policing standards for different communities and urged members of Parliament not to “allow this murder to turn communities against one another.”
Mahmood said that she understood people’s horror over the video of the tragic death, adding that the government is trying to sharply reduce knife crime.
Police watchdog investigates response by officers
Mahmood called for calm as the Independent Office for Police Conduct investigates the conduct of the officers from the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary. She said online rumors had led to death threats against an officer who wasn’t involved in the arrest.
“Misinformation and inflammatory commentary is making a dreadful situation even worse,” she said. “We must all together condemn it.”
In 2024, a stabbing rampage killed three girls and wounded 10 people at a dance class in northern England, leading to nearly a week of widespread rioting after people incorrectly identified the teen suspect on social media as a Muslim asylum seeker. The violent clashes with police were mostly aimed at migrants and Muslims.
The parents of the British-born attacker in that case were Christians from Rwanda. Investigators have not been able to pin down his motivation but have ruled out terrorism. Police found documents on his devices about subjects that included Nazi Germany, the Rwandan genocide and car bombs.
In the case of Nowak, a first-year student at the University of Southampton who had been out with friends, police officers walked up to the scene of what had been reported as an assault. Nowak could be seen on a driveway and was being held up by someone who said he had a mouthful of blood.
Digwa was standing nearby and told officers he had also been injured, pointing to his eyelid that he said was swollen. He claimed that Nowak had knocked off his turban and pulled his hair.
After Nowak was handcuffed, officers laid him on his side and searched for stab wounds. He appeared to have lost consciousness when one of the officers said he was being arrested for assault and read him his rights.
When officers discovered his injuries, they uncuffed him and started CPR, police said.
Judge disputes racism claim
Digwa was convicted of murder in Southampton Crown Court. Judge William Mousley told Digwa that he didn’t believe Nowak said anything racist to him.
“You are the only person to make that claim and it is completely at odds with his previous character,” he said.
In the United Kingdom, where gun ownership is strictly regulated, knives are often used in violent crimes and are also subject to restrictions. In general, people are not allowed to carry bladed weapons except for pocketknives whose cutting edge is no longer than 3 inches.
But Sikhs are allowed to carry ceremonial knives, known as kirpans, for religious reasons.