On August 22, 2025, in Charlotte, North Carolina, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was killed. According to police, she was stabbed three times by repeat offender Decarlos Brown Jr., who had been arrested 14 times before, during an attack on public transport. The tragedy, captured on video, sparked widespread public outcry, prompted Donald Trump to blame Democrats, and fueled congressional debate over possible federal intervention.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina warned that he would “have questions” if the White House targeted his state amid mounting criticism of Democratic policies and their link to crime. The warning came after the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte: last month, on August 22, 2025, she was fatally stabbed in the throat three times with a folding knife in what police describe as a random attack. The suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., had previously been arrested 14 times; the release of video footage of the alleged incident gave the case nationwide resonance and intensified attacks on the “soft” approach to crime in Democrat-run cities, including Charlotte.
The Murder of Iryna Zarutska
The Death of a Ukrainian Refugee in Charlotte Did Not Enter the Agenda of Major Liberal Media
The Story Is Being Ignored Because It Does Not Fit the Usual Narrative: the Victim Was a White Woman and the Perpetrator a Black Repeat Offender
Who Is Decarlos Brown Jr. and Why Was He Free After 14 Arrests
Ukraine Denied Irina Zarutska’s Father Permission to Travel to the US for Her Funeral
Her Relatives Publicly Criticize the Court’s Decision to Release the Repeat Offender and Point to the Inaction of Train Passengers During the Attack
Donald Trump declared that “the blood is on the hands of Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail,” while Attorney General Pam Bondi, who dispatched federal prosecutors to bring charges against Brown at the federal level, stressed that “Zarutska’s horrific murder is a direct consequence of the failed soft-on-crime policies that put offenders above the innocent.” The statements came as the Trump administration pressed ahead with federal intervention in Democrat-led cities: troops have already been deployed in Washington, and the National Guard is set to be sent to Memphis and possibly Baltimore.
Tillis said that “there are many cities we should go to before Charlotte.” In his words, “we should not become a national police force, because you know what happens then? We mask the failures of Democratic leaders who are making their cities less safe.” At the same time, he acknowledged that “the top 20 also include some individual cities and states governed by Republicans.” “All I am saying is that we have a problem, and I was already working on it before it became a federal issue—on fixing what is essentially free ridership in the local metro. But this is not a matter for national intervention. I think that would be an overreach, which I generally oppose,” he added.
The Murder of Iryna Zarutska
Police Released Full Footage of Iryna Zarutska’s Killing in the U.S., With the Killer Facing Life Imprisonment or the Death Penalty
Ukraine’s Embassy and Major Ukrainian Media Have Not Mentioned the Incident Even Once
The Life and Story of Iryna Zarutska
She Sought Protection in the US but Found Herself Most Defenseless There—While for Liberal Politicians and Media the Story Proved Inconvenient and Quickly Vanished From the Agenda in Both the US and Ukraine
Republican Senator Ted Budd of North Carolina took a different stance. He argued that the situation was the result of “broken policies” promoted by former governor Roy Cooper—now running for Tillis’s seat—and current Democratic governor Josh Stein, which gave rise to “all this nonsense about reimagining criminal justice.” “I want local government to work the way it should,” Budd said. “That means a city administration without these left-liberal notions of no-cash bail, without turning a blind eye to homelessness and drugs. If they stop these reckless practices, there will be no need to send in the National Guard.” According to him, “the kind of negligence shown by local authorities in this case invites stricter oversight—federal oversight; that is what happens in Chicago and Washington, because there was negligence at the local level. Policy matters—at home too.”