UK: 6 more charged after violent protest over stabbing death

A total of 11 people have now been charged with violent disorder following the stabbing of a student. UK Prime Minister Starmer has criticized right-wing politicians such as the US Vice President for exploiting the case.

British police said on Saturday that six more people have been charged with violent disorder at a protest over the fatal stabbing of university student Henry Nowak.

Nowak, 18, died in December after being stabbed with a ceremonial Sikh dagger by 23-year-old Vickrum Digwa, himself a Sikh, in the southern English city of Southampton.

Digwa falsely told police that he had been the victim of a racist assault by Nowak, who officers initially handcuffed and treated as a suspect before noticing his injury and trying to resuscitate him.

Digwa was convicted of murder and sentenced this week to life in prison, but the case has attracted anti-immigration activists and far-right politicians, who claim it is evidence there is bias against white people – like Nowak – in the justice system.

On Tuesday, police were attacked with chairs, cans, rocks and pyrotechnics by some of the hundreds of people attending a protest in Southampton – despite pleas from Nowak's family not to sow division and not to use the case "to cause disturbances."

Police said a total of 11 people have now been charged with disorder, some of whom appeared at Southampton Magistrates' Court on Saturday morning.

UK: Starmer condemns Vance interference

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the street violence "disgraceful and completely unacceptable."

On Friday, his office also condemned comments by US Vice President JD Vance, who blamed the United Kingdom's immigration policy for Nowak's death.

In a statement, Starmer's office criticized people "trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets."

Edited by: Jenipher Camino Gonzalez