Downing Street hits back after JD Vance blames Henry Nowak's murder on 'migrant invasion'
The US Vice-President said the response to Henry's death should be "righteous anger”
Downing Street has hit back at the White House and asked the Trump administration not to interfere in British democracy after comments from the US Vice President over the death of student Henry Novak.
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On Friday evening, Donald Trump's deputy claimed that Nowak would still be alive if Europe had tightened its grip on the "mass invasion of migrants".
The US Vice-President described the 18-year-old's death as "tragic as it is enraging" in the latest intervention by the Trump administration over the case.
In response, a Number 10 spokesperson told LBC: “In recent days, we have seen people trying to interfere in our democracy and seeking to stir up division on our streets.
Read more: Three more charged with violent disorder after clashes in Southampton following Henry Nowak murder
“The Nowak family are grieving after Henry’s horrific murder. They have said they do not want his death to be used to create further division, hatred or tension. We should be respecting their wishes.
“Our politics should bring people together even in the most terrible of circumstances. That is who we are as a country.”
Vance said on Friday: "Henry Nowak died the same way a civilisation dies, abandoned, handcuffed 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 enraging.
"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."
Vance added: "Henry was far from the first to so needlessly lose his life, and I fear he won’t be the last.
"Each time a life like his is lost, the proper response – the only response – is righteous anger.
"One of the most important things the Trump administration has proven to the world is that stopping the flow of mass migration and defending national sovereignty is a matter of political will and leadership. Anything else is an excuse."
"It is because we love the West that we want to preserve it. We love our civilization. We love our country. We love our children.
"And nobody—nobody—should ever die the way that Henry Nowak died. May God comfort those who loved him, and may God rest his soul."
Henry's family earlier called for "common sense" after his death sparked a political row and an evening of protests in Southampton earlier this week.
His father Mark and stepmother Katie, and sister met with Sir Keir Starmer on Thursday which the Prime Minister described as a "profoundly humbling" experience.
Protests were sparked near where Henry was fatally stabbed on Tuesday after his killer Vickrum Digwa claimed he had been the victim of a racial attack, while Mr Nowak was handcuffed by police who ignored his pleas that he could not breathe as he lay dying.
Billionaire X owner Mr Musk has posted numerous times on his platform about the police response to the stabbing of the teenager in Southampton last year, including offering to fund a private prosecution of Hampshire Constabulary.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct are investigating the force and called for the public to avoid specualting.
Derrick Campbell, IOPC director, said he was "acutely aware" of the public interest in what happened but warned that discussion of the case could risk prejudicing the investigation.
Vance's comments follow those made by the US's State Department which said that "two-tiered policing" was a "symptom of civilisational [sic] decline".