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Reuters
Downing Street has hit out at "people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division", after JD Vance's comments on the murder of Henry Nowak.
The US vice-president blamed the death of the 18-year-old-British student, who was fatally stabbed in December by Vickrum Digwa, on the "mass invasion of migrants" and said the "only response is righteous anger".
After the post on X, the Downing Street spokesman said the Nowak family "have said they do not want his death to be used to create further division".
"Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country," the statement added.
In his post, Vance described the killing as "tragic as it is enraging", saying that Nowak would still be alive today "if the last few generations of European elites had stood their ground against the politics of self-hatred and the mass invasion of migrants".
The Vance post echoed a US State Department post on Thursday that said: "Ideological conditioning and two-tiered policing are glaring symptoms of civilizational decline. They must be rejected across the West."
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer accused tech billionaire Elon Musk of "trying to whip up division" over Nowak's murder.
Posting on X on Tuesday, Musk wrote: "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.
Violent protests took place in Southampton on Tuesday following the release of bodycam footage which showed police handcuffing Nowak as he lay dying after Digwa falsely claimed to be the victim of racist attack.
During the protests, police were pelted with missiles, resulting in eleven officers and one police dog being injured. Two people were arrested after the incident.
Digwa was jailed for life with a minimum of 21 years after he used a 21cm (8in) blade he said he carried as part of his Sikh faith to kill Nowak, who was walking home alone after a night out with friends on 3 December.
The Conservatives and Reform UK criticised the case, saying the UK should not have "two-tier policing", which they claim involves different groups being policed differently.
Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, said "we all need to resist attempts like this to politicise Henry Nowak's death and divide our country - whether they come from MAGA politicians like Vance or their cronies here in the UK".
