The Appalling Reporting on Henry Nowak's Death

"There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one." C. S. Lewis

You can listen to me read this essay here (I encourage people to listen as I go into a few other important points that aren’t included in the essay):

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There are so many “truths” out there about the tragic death of Henry Nowak and the man who killed him that I decided I had to write about it, even though I really didn’t want to. I did not want to be part of how sensationalized this story has become. But I do want to highlight how dangerous that sensationalism is.

Here is a basic fact: Vickrum Digwa, 23, has been found guilty earlier this week of murdering student Henry Nowak, 18, in a vicious knife attack.

Let me be clear, this attack happened on December 3, 2025, but the horrific videos are only now making the rounds. Due to the sudden attention, at first, I thought the crime had happened just a few days ago, because that is the impression given online. I’m sure many people continue to think this.

False reporting on this attack includes the assumption and claims that Vickrum Digwa is Muslim. He is not. He is Sikh. Contrary to what many seem to think, they are not the same (towards the end of this essay I give some brief facts about Sikhism). Some reading this might say who cares, it doesn’t matter. Well, it does matter. Facts matter. It’s a slippery slope I have no wish to go down. If people are making assumptions that aren’t true on purpose or due to ignorance, they should be corrected.

Before getting into the specifics of this crime, I want to say a couple of things that you will hear very rarely these days from so-called journalists.

I have looked at many horrendous videos for the sake of writing essays. But this one, I knew I didn’t want to see. I couldn’t bring myself to look at it. I read what had happened and I couldn’t bear the thought that this young man’s last moments were being tossed about the internet, rehashed over again, just the latest violence that people crave to see.

I think of Henry’s father who said outside court: “My son did not die with dignity.”

Words fail me when I think how his son died. But now, he is dying a million times over in the ether, for the entertainment of the masses. Because, yes, this is entertainment now. We are living in AI hell as the masses are fed more and more of what they hungrily demand to see. And then we have those who are so inspired by what they see online that they go out and repeat it, many of them already mentally ill and made more so by AI.

At what point will we know when humanity has crossed over into insanity, completely manipulated by machines. Well, we won’t. Aren’t we always told that if you think you’re insane you aren’t. People who actually are insane don’t know it.

How do people even know if they truly care about what they are seeing online, when they are bombarded day and night with such horrors. We say, “isn’t that horrible” and then we go about our daily business. I don’t believe humans were meant to spend their days and nights salaciously watching all manner of violence on a screen (not to mention all manner of perverse sexual acts which anyone, even a child, can access now) and then freely spewing hatred, judgment, whatever curses and mockery comes to mind, without any consequences, hiding behind fake names and accounts.

We no longer know if what we see is true or false anyway. Every day, AI gets better at fooling us. So why not react as if nothing it real, it’s all a game, since that’s what it has become.

Immediately after the videos became viral, the internet was flooded with accusations against a particular police officer named as the officer who can be heard arresting Henry. Despite no proof of this, his name and photo continue to be passed around with millions seeing it. People feel completely justified in doing this, saying things like, “As long as the authorities don’t tell us who it is, we’ll keep posting this” and words to that affect, as if they are punishing the authorities when all they are doing is quite possibly ruining an innocent man’s life.

This is the mob mentality that we have seen over and over throughout history with tragic results. What is even more terrifying is how easily it happens now. It doesn’t just happen in a village or a town with a limited number of people as it did in the past. It happens across the world, spread by algorithms.

I will not post the officer’s name here. Hampshire Police have only confirmed that one officer involved has resigned, while three others remain serving officers and are being treated as witnesses in the investigation.

It sickens me how quickly pundits jumped on these videos. No one is interested in investigating if something is true or not. There is so much competition for attention online. All that matters is being among the first to spread the news so that maybe your post will go viral and you will get thousands of clicks and gain more visibility. Pundits know the public cares more about sensationalism than about truth. No one feels a moral obligation to steer the public in a better direction. Catering to their basest needs is the pathway to success.

There used to be gossip papers for this and everyone knew what they were. Now we have the New York Times telling lies about the Gaza war so it can days or weeks later publish a small “oops” article after they have benefited from the sensationalism.

The internet has become a virtual Roman coliseum where the masses sit in the stands, expecting news on their favorite social media sites that bring out the feelings of hatred and mockery they have become addicted to. At the same time, since millions of others agree with them, they believe they are fully justified in expressing those emotions in the vilest manner because “everyone’s doing it”.

Very few people value thoughtful journalism anymore. That’s why those of us who refuse to compete in the arena of sensationalism are being shoved to the background by the algorithms. What first happened on Facebook and X, is now happening on Substack and it’s very concerning. I don’t know where real reporting can go after this.

I say all of the above to explain why it took me so long to view the videos and then to write about them.

Vickrum was carrying a large knife in a sheath openly displayed over his clothing when he approached Henry that night. Henry was walking home from a football match. He had drunk less than the legal limit of alcohol and was talking to friends on Snapchat.

What would you do if you came across someone carrying a knife like that, especially after so many knife attacks. I cannot imagine the terror Henry must have felt as he tried to joke and defuse the situation, only to be viciously attacked.

Vickrum killed Henry with a Kirpan knife. Sikhs are legally permitted to carry a Kirpan knife in public in the UK under religious exemption laws. Kirpan blades are between 5” to 12” long. Vickrum’s had an 8-inch blade.

I find this to be especially appalling. Why are Sikhs catered to in this fashion? Will those laws remain in place?

So much of what is happening now brings back memories of Luxor. The men of Luxor carry long knives in the pockets of their jellabiyas. I was told all Muslim men carry such knives. My own husband claimed to have been in a knife fight with another young man during high school and almost killed him. While I was in Luxor a knife fight broke out between two men fighting over a woman. There are recent cases of men stabbing other men in the streets. In two instances, men were killed and their heads hacked off and carried through the streets.

Like the videos of Oct 7th, these videos of Henry’s death will haunt me forever. Watching what happened is like entering a nightmare come to life. Much of the internet has turned into this.

One of the aspects that immediately struck me, and a valid reason for people’s anger, was how the police officers gave all their attention to the brown man who was perfectly fine, automatically believing his accusations of racism and assault by the white man who was dying on the ground before them.

In his final moments, Henry Nowak told police officers nine times “I can’t breathe” and four times that he had been stabbed.

In response police officer dragged him across the gravel and cuffed him. As he continued to plead for help, saying he’d been stabbed, one officer responds in a maddeningly dismissive voice, as if he is talking to a mental patient: “I don’t think you have, mate.”

Henry’s final words were: “I can’t breathe.” Moments later, he became unresponsive.

The pathologist determined that Henry wouldn't have survived the mortal wound to his heart, no matter what. But to see so many people standing over him as if he is just a piece of meat on the ground, disbelieving what he has to say is unbearable.

Vickrum’s mother, Kaur, who along with his father arrived at the scene, took his kirpan while he claimed he picked up his religious items which had fallen to the ground during the struggle. Kaur then took the kirpan back to the nearby family home where it was later found. When confronted with what she had done she lied and denied it. Vickrum also took Henry’s phone.

Below is one of the videos of Henry Nowak’s arrest and death, along with the lies told by his killer. It is chilling to listen to him. You would think after such an attack, he would at least show some tension, but he is calculating and calm. He doesn’t look like a man with mental problems at all. He looks like a man who knows exactly what he did and wants to justify it.

I only put the video here after my lengthy commentary above so that all those who make it this far can decide for themselves, in a thoughtful manner, if they will watch it or not. Probably, this video has already appeared in many of your feeds. Again, I warn that it is extremely disturbing.

To do justice to everyone, I want to mention that during the trial, the judge said that the police officers handcuffed Henry Nowak about a minute before discovering his fatal wound and giving treatment.

“The knife wound would not have been obvious in the dark,” Judge Mousley said.

Watching the video, one can see how dark it is and yes, it must have been hard to see. However, don’t police have flashlights? How is darkness an excuse. I have seen plenty of videos of police officers in dangerous highly stressful situations having to make snap judgments. This was not one of those. Everyone was calm and taking their time while completely ignoring the pleas of Henry.

And now, a brief overview of Sikhism.

Sikhism originated with the birth of Guru Nanak in Punjab circa 1469 CE and is based on the guru’s writings and teachings. It is a relatively new religion by world standards. The Nanak philosophy that teaches “There is no Hindu, there is no Muslim” means that all are spiritually equal. This philosophy was propagated together by Guru Nanak— who was born of a Hindu family— and his spiritual companion Bhai Mardana—born of a Muslim family, as they conducted a series of mission tours. Guru Nanak compiled the writings of both Hindu and Muslim saints, which are included in Sikh scriptures. Sikhism originated in the area of the Indian subcontinent that is present-day Pakistan.

HERE, you can learn more about the birth of the Kalsa Movement, a huge gathering that happened in 1699 where the caste system was rejected and it was determined that all people were equal, even women, which was quite unheard of at that time.

In fairness to the Sikh community, long before this violent act, Vickrum had been barred from his local place of worship due to his concerning behavior. Again, just to clear up misconceptions, Sikhs do not worship in mosques, they worship in Gurdwara which means "the door that leads to the Guru).

The Sikh community issued a statement condemning what happened, which you can read HERE.

None of this excuses what the video clearly shows: that police officers can be so afraid of accusations of racism against them that their judgment can be clouded to the point where they don’t see the obvious right in front of them.

Who among us wouldn’t listen to the guy on the ground pleading in agony for help? Why would officers automatically believe the man standing unhurt rather than the man saying he’s been stabbed. Police are supposed to be trained for situations like this. But what kind of training is keeping them from doing what they are supposed to do—protecting whoever it is that needs to be protected regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.

At the end of the day, it’s no one’s fault but Vickrum’s. Well, and his parents who lied for him in a most obscene manner. If he was already known to be causing problems, and the Sikh community doesn’t specify why they distanced themselves from him, surely, he should not have been allowed to carry an 8-inch ceremonial knife, no matter how much people want to appease every religion out there.

If it’s illegal for everyone else to carry an 8-inch blade, it should be illegal for Sikhs, too. Who cares about offending them. If they want to carry knives like that, they should go back to their home country. Western nations should be under no obligation to cater to dangerous religious practices, especially when knife attacks are now all the rage.

This is the clash we find ourselves in between Western Judeo-Christian society and societies that do not believe in the same God. I know that will offend some, and I will be called, yes, a racist. Oh well. This is still the heart of the matter. Whatever epiphanies were made that brought about the Kasla Movement for Sikhs, they still don’t worship the one true God of the Torah and the Bible. They are a cult that follows a guru who plagiarized teachings from Hinduism and Islam. Just as Islam is a cult that follows a guru who plagiarized from Judaism and Christianity.

People can argue as much as they want that these religions (cults) are compatible with Western civilization and it’s our fault if we can’t get along with them, but that is denying basic facts. Sure, there are plenty of lovely people who belong to these religions, and they should be able to practice their religion in their religious buildings and in their homes. We believe in freedom of religion. But catering to their demands, such as carrying 8-inch knives in the streets, is madness and only leads to disaster.

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