London, UK – British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused Elon Musk of stoking political division in the UK after the billionaire used social media platform X to amplify outtage over the murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak.
Bodycam footage was released on June 2 depicting Nowak as he lay dying, having been stabbed by Vickrum Digwa, 23, who claimed the teenager had racially abused him. Judge William Mousley since dismissed the allegation, and described the encounter as a “chance meeting”.
Digwa was found guilty of murder and was jailed for a minimum term of 21 years, but the video caused significant controversy as it revealed that Nowak, while fatally wounded, had been handcuffed, with police ignoring and casting doubt over his pleas for help.
The release of the video attracted widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch calling for an official review of the incident.
The fiercest outrage, however, has come from the domestic and international hard right. Reform party leader Nigel Farage released a statement calling for “pure, cold rage” in response to the incident, which he views as “a two-tier culture in this country, where the rights and privileges of white people matter less than those of ethnic minorities”.
Farage has since backed down on his comments, saying that he was trying to make a point on DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) policies, but that he was happy to have broken “the wall of silence”
Elon Musk, no stranger to political commentary on British domestic politics, made a series of statements on his X account, writing: “Send the video to everyone you know showing how heinously Nowak was treated by the police in his dying moments and how the police cravenly kowtowed to his murderer.”
“Legacy mainstream media, the same ones who wrote about George Floyd millions of times, are dead silent about Nowak,” he added.
Meanwhile, U.S Vice President JD Vance also released a statement on X about the killing, saying: “Henry Nowak died the same way a civilization dies: abandoned, handcuffed by authorities who neither trusted nor cared for him, and accused of hate crimes he did not commit”.
“He should still be alive today, and he would be if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants, many of whom despise the West and the people who love it.”
Grok, X’s AI tool, also came under intense scrutiny after it mistakenly identified two police officers, who it claimed had been the arresting officers on the night of Nowak’s murder. One of the officers has released a statement saying that she is “scared for her safety”, and the other has gone into hiding.
Wednesday saw tense clashes between police and right-wing protestors in Southampton, where Nowak was killed on December 3, 2025. Following intense and escalating political rhetoric, Starmer responded to Musk’s posts with a strong rebuke.
“We need to assert who we are as a country, because Musk, again, has been interfering in our politics in the last few days, trying to whip up division – that is not who we are in Britain,” the prime minister stressed.
X, since Musk’s takeover of Twitter, has been accused of spreading misinformation and hate, according to studies by the European Commission and Amnesty UK.
Starmer’s comments form part of increasingly strong statements by the British government against Musk and X. On Thursday, it was announced that Jess Asato, MP for Lowestoft, was bringing legal action against xAI after AI-generated images of her in a bikini were created without her consent. Starmer said he was “100% behind” the MP.
Technology Minister Liz Kendall has also said that the government is considering bringing in laws to combat misinformation during periods of social unrest.
On Friday, Starmer released a further statement, criticising politicians trying to “interfere in our democracy”. Whilst not directed at any specific politician, it came soon after Vance’s statement.
Neither Musk nor JD Vance have responded to the Prime Minister’s statements so far.
