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Protesters throw beer bottles at a police van during violent scenes in Southampton last night
A demonstrator’s face is covered in blood after clashing with officers in the city
Riot police armed with plastic shields face off with protestors
Police bodycam footage shows innocent victim Henry Nowak, 18, being forced into handcuffs by officers after he was stabbed repeatedly by a knife-obsessed Sikh man
Vickrum Digwa is seen lying to police as he tells them Mr Nowak ripped off his turban in a racist attack. He also points to his eye, claiming it has been injured by the teenager
Mr Nowak was a finance student at the University of Southampton and was described as ‘kind and talented’
More than 1,000 demonstrators descended on Southampton Central Police Station just before 6pm yesterday.
Protesters shouted ‘I can’t breathe’ and held banners reading ‘protect our kids’, but rioting soon broke out as thugs pelted officers with wheelie bins, flares and beer cans.
Writing in the Daily Mail, Kemi Badenoch said Mr Nowak’s murder was a ‘seminal moment’ in the fight against racism.
The Tory leader compared the stabbing of the 18-year-old university student to the murder of Stephen Lawrence 33 years ago.
Mrs Badenoch said that, just like Stephen’s shocking killing in 1993, Mr Nowak’s death at the hands of an assailant who lied about claims of racism needs to be a turning point.
Nigel Farage said the police response showed that an ‘accusation of a racial slur was treated more seriously than an act of murder’.
The Reform UK leader added: ‘Remember the reaction to [George Floyd] and the way the police behaved?
‘Within a few days Keir Starmer was taking the knee, Black Lives Matter, it exploded all over the country, Churchill’s statue was defaced, the Cenotaph was vandalised.
‘And yet what has the public reaction been from our leaders and politicians and indeed to be frank much of the media to this? Silence, absolute silence.
‘Proof, if ever there was any, that we’re living in a two-tier culture in this country where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities.’
Promising to review the Race Action plan, NPCC chairman Gavin Stephens said: ‘We are listening to legitimate concerns about how some of these commitments are worded or phrased, and where needed we can and will make changes, but this should not detract from the intent, which is to improve the quality of policing.’
But Ms Sandhu defended the policy as necessary in a diverse society.
She said: ‘The guidance on racism is more about teaching people to understand different cultures. It doesn’t say you treat people differently.
‘It says take into account different cultures because if you’re dealing with somebody who is deaf, blind, because it doesn’t cater to skin colour. If you are dealing with someone who is deaf or blind.’
She added: ‘I do not accept that there is two-tier policing in this country. I do not accept that police officers go to work thinking I am going to watch a young person bleed out.’
And speaking about calls for Britain to end the religious exemption for carrying a blade, she said: ‘You should not say that all Sikhs shouldn’t carry the kirpan because of what this individual has done in this case. And he did not use the kirpan.’
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood branded last night’s violence ‘completely unacceptable’, writing on social media: ‘The Nowak family made a powerful call to us all yesterday to not let Henry’s death be used to create further division, hatred or tension.
‘There can be no justification for hijacking this tragedy to stir up violence and disorder. Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law.’