Riots are gripping the streets of Southampton in Great Britain today as the tragic events of the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak, an accounting student, play out in the media with the conviction of his murderer and the release of footage of what happened.
Like George Floyd here in the United States, Nowak’s last words were “I can’t breathe,” and like Floyd, he was being held to the ground by police, even being handcuffed as he bled to death.
The more potent underlying similarity with Floyd’s death, however, is that of reverse racism — people of color are believed, those who are white are not.
White Always Guilty, as the Democrats here in the U.S. want us to believe. Unfortunately, the same mantra seems to have gripped Great Britain.
Some background: On the night of December 3, 2025, Henry Nowak, an 18-year-old first-year accountancy student at the University of Southampton, was walking home alone after a night out with his soccer team.
On the way home, he encountered a Sikh named Vickrum Digwa, who was carrying an eight-inch blade, larger than the ceremonial Sikh blade allowed under British law. What followed was Digwa stabbing Nowak. When police arrived, Digwa claimed he had been the victim of a racist assault. Police believed him and handcuffed a dying Nowak while he lay on the ground.
Nowak repeatedly said, “I can’t breathe.” Police didn’t believe that he had even been stabbed. He died on the scene. Worse, Digwa gleefully recorded the death scene with his cellphone while police read Nowak his rights.
Digwa this week was convicted of murder, and will spend — barring review or clemency — at least 20 years behind bars. His mother is also facing jail time for hiding the murder weapon from the police after the incident.
What caused today’s rioting was the release of police bodycam footage of what transpired. One officer has already resigned in wake of the incident. Elon Musk has pledged to finance any lawsuit against the police on behalf of Nowak and his family.
In a public statement, his father, Mark Nowak, said: “Henry did not die with dignity.
As for the George Floyd incident here, the coroner ruled that police actions led to his death. The cause was technically cardiopulmonary arrest, but the coroner said it was due to “positional asphyxia” from being held to the ground by a white police officer named Derek Chauvin, later convicted of his death, even though Chauvin was using a chokehold approved by his department.
What the coroner downplayed, as did all media accounts, was the fact that Floyd was so drugged out from fetnanyl and methamphetamine from the moment of his arrest that, even while sitting undisturbed in the back seat of the police car, he kept saying, “I can’t breathe.” That bit of video is never shown on public media.
In a court filing during Chauvin’s trial, attorney Eric Nelson pleaded, “Put simply, Mr. Floyd could not breathe because he had ingested a lethal dose of fentanyl and, possibly, a speed-ball.”
My guess is that today’s riots in Southampton are being officially chalked up as evidence of white racism against Sikhs and other minorities.
PICTURED: Father Mark Nowak, with his family, speaks to the public after the conviction of his son Henry’s murder.
