Henry Nowak isn’t ‘White Lives Matter’ – it’s ‘No Lives Matter’
‘I can’t breathe’: Outrage, violence after UK police handcuff dying student
Body camera footage of a dying student who was handcuffed by British police after being stabbed by a Sikh man and falsely accused of racially abusing his murderer sparked outrage today, with angry protesters throwing projectiles at police in the city where the crime took place.
Eighteen-year-old Henry Nowak was heard repeatedly telling police “I can’t breathe” in police bodycam footage captured as he lay mortally wounded in December after a night out with his football team members.
Far-right figures have seized on the case and firebrand Tommy Robinson spoke at a rally in the southern city of Southampton where the murder took place, claiming police treat white British people as “second-rate citizens”.
Protesters then marched through the city centre towards the scene of the crime and attacked police blocking the road with stones, bottles and bins.
A judge yesterday jailed the killer, 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, for at least 21 years for stabbing Nowak to death with a ceremonial knife that had a 21cm blade.
Stuff
The horror of watching Henry Nowak die is as pornographic as the George Floyd video.
People in their last moments of life.
The fear in them.
Human Beings shouldn’t die like that and they shouldn’t have such a personal private moment viewed over and over and over again.
It is hideous and simply manages to compound the disgust and anger many of us feel when we see an innocent human life extinguished for no good reason.
Both of them cried out, “I can’t breathe”.
To add monstrosity to horror, the Right have seized upon this tragedy to attack Immigrants and push a theory that UK Police are treating white people more negatively and thus the death of Henry is somehow deliberate.
That this is proof of bias against white people.
They dare conflate this to Black Lives Matter.
They declare, White Lives Matter’.
They are wrong.
No Lives Matter.
Last year American Police shot 564 white Americans and 302 Black Americans.
Sure, the disproportionate number of those shoot are Black Americans, but physical numbers are far more white people are shot by Police.
No Lives Matter.
The issues raised by Nowak’s death are not unique to this case. They are part of a much longer history of deaths following police contact and the campaigns that this has inspired. Take the United Families and Friends Campaign (UFFC), which works with families from all ethnic and cultural backgrounds and is aimed at preventing such deaths. Nowak is not the first white man to die in police custody, nor will he be the last. Many white British people have died in the custody of police in circumstances just as brutal – in fact, the majority of such deaths are indeed white people, which is common sense given that white people are the majority in this country.
The Guardian
The issue is not that the UK Police wrongly arrested someone accused of a fight, the issue is the standard of care given.
Vickrum Digwa was British, pretending he is an immigrant destroying the foundations of British values is simply false.
The Police made. mistake, it was a mistake that ended up in a death.
To manufacture that mistake into a narrative of white prejudice that justifies racist mob justice is an affront to the memory of Nowak and his whanau.
As for this…
Downing Street hits out after Vance post about Henry Nowak
Downing Street has hit out at “people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division”, after JD Vance’s comments on the murder of Henry Nowak.
The US vice-president blamed the death of the 18-year-old British student, who was fatally stabbed last year in Southampton by Vickrum Digwa, on the “mass invasion of migrants” and said the “only response” was “righteous anger”.
BBC
…FFS!
To use Heny’s death to symbolise a false racist lie specifically to enflame others to violence is a shameful cruelty.
Henry deserved more from the Police who encountered him that night, of that there can be no doubt, but to manufacture their mistake into a race war for white extremists is a sickness beyond the malice of cancer.
Don’t be manipulated by the racist Right!
What happened to Henry Nowak was as wrong and unjust as the deaths of Emmett Till and Stephen Lawrence. While it is sad that the likes of Nigel Farage, Tommy Robinson and JD Vance have exploited Nowak’s death to target immigrants, there needs to be consequences for the police officers, Vikrum Digwa and his relatives who conspired to either withhold evidence or frame Nowak. An inquiry needs to be held into the police response and the responsible officers and ex-officers need to be censured, fined or imprisoned. Alternatively, the Nowak family could file civil proceedings against them. Digwa’s brother and Mum need to go to prison for framing Nowak and evidence tampering. Vikrum Digwa should either be subject to a whole life tariff of executed. Digwa’s actions are a case for bringing back capital punishment in Western countries. That would act as a deterrence for serious crime.
The UK Police having been accused of institutional racism, the attending police officers may well have feared being accused of racism. The safest thing for them to do was to arrest the white, and demonstrate their performative ‘anti racism’.
It looks like the Police were well-handled (manipulated) in this tragic circumstance that has led to dire consequences all round, none moreso than for Henry Nowak. Terrible.
The footage is harrowing. You would not wish such a fate on anyone, regardless of who they are. Henry Nowak’s family, friends, and all those concerned have every right to be heartbroken, and they have every right to ask difficult questions about the events surrounding his treatment.
It is fair to say that the questions extend beyond the individual constables involved. Many suspect that the culture, procedures, and protocols followed by the police may also require scrutiny. If that proves to be the case, then responsibility does not stop at the street level. Any organisation should regard such an outcome as a shock and a wake-up call. It is deeply concerning if tragic consequences can occur when common sense, situational awareness, and the ability to reassess events as they unfold are absent or overridden.
People are understandably angry, upset, and fearful. However, that anger risks being exploited by politicians, commentators, activists, and others seeking to advance their own agendas. While the public should not be fobbed off with mealy-mouthed statements or glib promises to “do better,” neither should they allow a tragedy to be hijacked for political gain.
The subsequent riots were unnecessary. By turning to violence, those involved created a distraction and provided an opportunity for attention to shift away from the central issue. Instead of focusing on what happened to Henry Nowak and why, the conversation becomes centred on disorder, arrests, and public unrest.
Many have also noted the apparent differences in how politicians and sections of the media have responded to this case compared with previous incidents and protest movements, including those associated with BLM. Whether those differences are justified or not, perceptions of inconsistency inevitably fuel public distrust and deserve honest discussion.
History repeatedly shows that riots rarely help uncover the truth. More often, they obscure it. The challenge for any society is to hold authorities rigorously to account while maintaining enough public order for a thorough and credible investigation to take place. Those goals are not in conflict. In fact, they should reinforce one another.
The most important question remains the simplest one: What happened to Henry Nowak, why did it happen, and what must be done to ensure it never happens again?