Donald Trump administration speaks out Henry Nowak murder and accuses UK force of 'two-tier policing'

The Trump administration has commented on the murder of Henry Nowak as it repeated the claim of 'two-tier policing' being made.

Nowak, 18, had been heading back to his university halls of residence in Southampton when he was murdered on 3 December, 2025, by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa.

When Hampshire Police officers arrived, Digwa claimed he had been racially abused by Nowak, and bodycam footage of the incident shows the student telling police he had been stabbed with an officer responding: "Don’t think you have, mate."

Police arrested Nowak at the scene, with them putting the dying teenager in handcuffs before one of the officers noticed he had become unresponsive.

Digwa was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years behind bars for murdering Nowak, and in Southampton violent protests have followed.

There's also been a statement from the US government, who claimed there were' glaring symptoms of civilisational decline'.

Posting on social media, they said: "Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilisational decline. They must be rejected across the West.

"The United States sends our condolences to the family of Henry Nowak and the people of the United Kingdom at this troubling time."

'Two-tier policing' is the claim that police forces are treating certain groups of people differently depending on a specific aspect about them, and that depending on who you are you can expect different treatment from the justice system.

Alexis Boon, Chief Constable of Hampshire Police, rejected claims of two-tier policing when Sky News asked him if police in the UK were 'anti-white' or 'anti-black'.

"Do we have a two-tier type policing system, I would refute that," he said.

"I would say absolutely not. I see officers day in, day out on the grounds serving without fear or favour all our communities. I think that's the case nationally.

"I appreciate other people have a different view, but that's my view."

He added that officers involved with the arrest of Henry Nowak were being treated as witnesses by the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) and while they had not been suspended they were not participating in frontline duties.

Speaking after Digwa's sentencing, Henry's father Mark said: "Henry did not die with dignity. He did not die with the care he deserved. He lost consciousness before anyone believed him.

“Let me be absolutely clear – we hold Vickrum Digwa solely and 100 percent responsible for the brutal murder of our son. But Henry should not have died on the streets of Southampton in police custody. The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading.

“His murderer, however, was afforded decency. He was believed. He was not handcuffed when arrested. He was not handcuffed when transported to the police station.

“As far as we understand, he was never handcuffed at all.

“And, as Vickrum Digwa himself told the court, while under arrest for Henry’s murder, police even took him to the kitchen so he could choose his food. The contrast is unbearable.”

In a call for the government to take action on knife crime, Mark Nowak went on to say: “We want to use Henry’s heartbreaking story to make change for the better.

“We do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We want his story to help make our streets safer for everyone."

He also said he wanted to make sure IOPC had the 'resources, authority and independence it needs' to carry out a 'full, fearless and transparent investigation'.