US VP Vance slams UK handling of student murder, blames migration

U.S. Vice President JD Vance has sharply criticized the United Kingdom's handling of the murder of a student, Henry Nowal, linking the incident to what he described as the decline of Western civilization due to mass migration.

Vance expressed his outrage on X, formerly Twitter, stating, "Henry Nowal died the way civilization dies: abandoned, shackled by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit." He characterized the murder as "as tragic as it is outrageous."

Nowal, an 18-year-old, was fatally stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, on December 3, 2025, in Southampton. The case has become highly politicized in the UK, particularly after video emerged showing Nowal being handcuffed by police while injured and audibly struggling to breathe.

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Henry Nowal died the way civilization dies: abandoned, shackled by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit. His murder is as tragic as it is outrageous.

A judge recently sentenced Digwa to a minimum of 21 years in prison for the murder and for lying to police about the student allegedly uttering racist slurs. Vance used the case to advance his views on immigration, asserting, "He should be alive today, and he would be if the last generations of European elites had stood firm against the policies of self-loathing and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and those who love it."

The actions of the police during the incident have drawn significant criticism from the far-right in the UK, leading to clashes between protesters and law enforcement.

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He should be alive today, and he would be if the last generations of European elites had stood firm against the policies of self-loathing and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and those who love it.