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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Gruesome train attack in Charlotte adds fuel to national debate on
crime
By Eric Levenson, Wesley Bruer, Dianne Gallagher, CNN
Updated:
4:45 AM EDT, Wed September 10, 2025
Source: CNN
The national debate around crime and law-and-order politics has largely
focused on America’s biggest cities in blue states: Los Angeles,
Chicago and New York, as well as the federal government’s backyard of
Washington, DC.
But the last month of a Ukrainian refugee on a train in Charlotte,
North Carolina, has thrust the “Queen City” squarely into that
conversation.
The gruesome video of what police said was Decarlos Brown’s random
attack on Iryna Zarutska was released Friday and quickly sparked a wave
of right-wing criticisms of Democratic-led cities and criminal justice
reform policies.
The suspect has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for
armed robbery, felony larceny and breaking and entering. He spent more
than five years behind bars for robbery with a dangerous weapon, state
records show. Family members told CNN Brown, who is homeless, has a
history of mental health struggles.
Most recently, after a misdemeanor charge of misusing 911, he was
released on the condition of a written promise he would appear for his
next hearing, according to court records.
The White House said his release left him “free to slaughter an
innocent woman just months later.”
Brown has been charged on the state level with first-degree murder for
allegedly stabbing Zarutska. He was also charged federally Tuesday with
one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation
system. CNN has reached out to Brown’s attorney for comment.
“We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of
violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man,”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
The unprovoked attack is also being by the FBI.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday he’s investigating
the possibility of cutting federal funding from the city’s light rail
system. The state auditor announced on Monday his office is also
investigating the city’s transit system.
President about the stabbing on Truth Social, criticizing Democratic
policies and promoting Republican candidate in next year’s closely
watched Senate race.
“North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only
Republicans will deliver it!” he wrote.
Right-wing politicians have long used horrific crime stories –
particularly those featuring Black suspects and White victims – to
make broader criticisms of Democrats as soft on crime. It’s a
playbook infamously honed in the “” campaign ad of the 1988
presidential race to attack presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson
said Tuesday the case was not about politics.
“If this was a political grandstand, there would be an opposite side
to this. Is the opposite side let’s allow murders on our light rail?
Is the opposite side let’s let people out of state prison so they can
commit other crimes?” Ferguson said. “There’s no other side of
this. There’s no politics of this. This is a pure and simple federal
case.”
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, in the first
half of this year, “Charlotte experienced a , which includes
homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults, encompassing
shootings” compared with the same time period last year. Overall
crime has decreased 8%, the department said.
And Charlotte does not cleanly fit the partisan attacks the White House
has waged in Chicago, LA or New York.
A Democratic-led city in a purple state dominated by a Republican
legislature, Charlotte has only occasionally been a source of national
political controversy, notably in its LGBTQ “” debate nearly a
decade ago.
Incumbent Mayor Vi Lyles will win the Democratic primary in the race
for her fifth two-year term, CNN projects. She faces a Republican and
Libertarian in November, but the city has had a Democratic mayor for
the past 16 years.
Much of the criticism has centered on the response from Lyles, whose
initial statement did not significantly address the victim and instead
focused on offering empathy to the suspect and addressing homelessness
and mental illness.
“We, as a community, must do better for those members of our
community who need help and have no place to go,” she wrote.
A follow-up statement notably thanked the media outlets who did not
share video of the stabbing. Then her latest statement took a different
tack and blamed courts and magistrates for allowing repeat offenders to
remain on the streets.
“We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not
face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment
for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the street,” she
wrote.
Brown’s mother told the court should have never let her son be out in
the community given his previous arrests and mental health issues. She
said they did everything they knew to try to get him help, but “the
system failed him.”
Locals speak out about attack
On the ground in Charlotte, residents spoke to CNN about their safety
concerns in light of the attack even as they questioned whether more
security could have prevented it.
Zarutska was stabbed in Charlotte’s South End, a neighborhood
transformed into an area of high-end apartments, restaurants, shops and
breweries — fueled by the 2007 debut of the light rail system.
Unlike extensive transit systems in New York or Chicago, the Charlotte
Area Transit System, known as CATS, has a more limited area. It
consists of a bus system, north-south blue line light rail and an
east-west gold line street car, with proposed plans for further
expansion.
“As a native of Charlotte, I’m so sad to say that our city has
gotten to this place,” Ferguson, the US Attorney, said Tuesday in
announcing federal charges.
“To think now that you can’t even feel comfortable riding that
train hits me deep. The light rail brought this city access to jobs,
access to education. People could take the train to college. It really
put Charlotte on the map. And this incident has really, really injured
that,” he said.
Channing Chasco said he doesn’t really ride the light rail in
Charlotte. But the new business owner, who lives near the East/West
Boulevard stop not far from where the attack took place, said he has
never felt unsafe in his neighborhood. He said he believes the national
reaction to the killing stems from a mix of political opportunity and
real concern about safety.
“I didn’t realize it was making national coverage,” he said.
“Obviously, this was way more brutal and it’s something very
different for this area, but I wasn’t expecting this to get all over
the news nationally.”
Kathryn Dean, who lives in Charlotte’s Lower South End, the area
where Zarutska worked and boarded the train, says her boyfriend rides
the light rail every single day. Since the attack, she and her
boyfriend have grown “more aware” and “feel uneasy,” she said,
adding she often sees homeless people hanging out at train stops but
usually tries to avoid places they congregate.
Dean takes early morning runs, and “as a small, 28-year-old blonde
girl,” she said she is more aware of her surrounding since the
stabbing. It’s made her take notice of her habits in public, like
wearing headphones.
Dean takes early morning runs, and since the stabbing she’s been more
aware of her surroundings and habits in public, like wearing
headphones, she said.
Amy, who only wanted her first name used, told CNN she rides the light
rail to work every day.
“I feel uncomfortable now, since it happened,” she said. “Before,
the light rail was my choice, but now I think about just driving and
parking since it happened.”
“Maybe they should do some more safety, fare checks. It’s hard
because there are no gates. But maybe more checks would make you feel
safer,” Amy said. She also acknowledged that after seeing video of
the stabbing that she isn’t sure what police could have done in the
moment to stop it.
Sheryl, who did not want to give her last name, told CNN she can’t
stop thinking about the killing. Now, though, the Chicago native
believes the attack is being used for political posturing on the
national level.
“This is political. I don’t have anything against Trump, but he’s
overstepping his power by doing things like sending the National Guard
to cities. You see how he talks about Chicago? That’s where I’m
from. I think he’s talking about this tragedy here for political
reasons, too,” she said.
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