Several hundred people, many with right-wing populist views, demonstrated on Tuesday against the police's actions surrounding the death of teenager Henry Nowak in December last year.
Police body-camera footage shows the teenager repeatedly complaining that he can't breathe while being forced to sit up as officers try to handcuff him. When he says he was stabbed, police say they doubt it. Nowak then loses consciousness.
The man who stabbed him then claimed he had been subjected to a racist attack, which the police chose to believe.
Political debate
The incident in Southampton was debated in Parliament in London on Tuesday, the day after the man who stabbed him was sentenced to life imprisonment for the act.
The incident has also been exploited in politics. According to Sky News on Tuesday, Reform Party leader Nigel Farage said that the police's actions were proof that white Britons do not have the same rights as ethnic minorities and that it should make Britons feel angry.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, according to the BBC, that the released footage made him feel sick, but added that Farage's response to the film was "the wrong reaction."
Thrown bottles
The Reform leader's words have infuriated his supporters, who, according to Sky News and the BBC, dominated the demonstration held on Tuesday. The protest turned violent when several people threw bottles and garbage cans at the police.
"Nothing can justify hijacking this tragedy to incite violence and unrest. Those responsible can expect to face the full force of the law," wrote Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood on X, according to AFP.
One of the four police officers who participated in the operation when the 18-year-old was stabbed resigned on Tuesday.
