June 3, 2026, 9:38 amJune 3, 2026, 9:38 am
Hundreds of people protested in front of the local police station on Tuesday.Image: www.imago-images.de
A serious police error in the UK has sparked a debate about alleged reverse racism and right-wing propaganda.
The background is the conviction of a 23-year-old man to life imprisonment for murder in Southampton. The convicted man from the Sikh community fatally injured a white 18-year-old student with a knife in December 2025 before presenting himself to the police as the victim of a racially motivated attack.
As part of the protest there were also clashes with the police.Image: keystone
As seen in harrowing body camera video, officers handcuff the dying man even though he says several times that he was stabbed and can’t breathe. But he is not believed. He dies at the scene.
Justified criticism or propaganda?
Right-wing and conservative politicians quickly identified efforts to combat racism as the cause of the blatant mistake. Liberal and left-wing politicians, on the other hand, sensed right-wing propaganda.
Nigel Farage, the right-wing populist leader of the Reform UK party, which is currently leading the polls in Britain, saw a reverse George Floyd moment coming. The case of the black man who died due to police violence in the US metropolis of Minneapolis was a key moment in the Black Lives Matter movement. In a video call on the X platform, Farage denounced an alleged two-class culture “in which the rights and privileges of white people count less than those of ethnic minorities.”
Nigel Farage of Reform UK. (archive image)Image: keystone
Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson then accused Farage of “exploiting a tragedy to tear communities apart in the UK”. This is “divisive, dangerous and fundamentally un-British,” said Wilkinson.
Worry about a new summer of riots
Prime Minister Keir Starmer described the case as “terrible and shocking” and welcomed an announced investigation by the police conduct watchdog IOPC. Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood told a debate in the House of Commons that the investigation should be completed within three months. However, she warned that “this murder will lead to communities turning on each other.” The victim’s father made similar statements in court, as the British news agency PA reported: “We don’t want his death to be used to create more division, hatred or tension.”
Right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson, however, called for a protest in front of the police headquarters in Southampton in an angry video appeal. This raised fears of a new summer of riots. Robinson played an infamous role in fueling racist riots in the summer of 2024. At that time, England and Northern Ireland were rocked by violent riots for weeks.
Right-wing extremist activist Tommy Robinson. (archive image)Image: keystone
According to Mahmood, one police officer has already had to move his family because he received death threats after being falsely linked to the incident. (sda/dpa)