Opinion
North Carolina – The harsh truth is that violent crime suits the leftist agenda. There is no other logical explanation for George Soros’ pro-criminal district attorneys; no explanation for cashless bail; and definitely no other explanation for letting loose repeat violent offenders who should be removed from society.
As I teach in seminars, Marxists must first tear down the existing society in order to create The Great Socialist Utopia they envision. The scheme is to create chaos, and then “solve” the problem they themselves created with (of course) massive governmental intervention.
Although we normally talk about the crime capitals of New York, Chicago, Baltimore, and Los Angeles, the same policies are now costing lives in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The sad case of Iryna Zarutska
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, age 23, became famous when national media could no longer ignore the graphic video of her brutal stabbing death aboard a Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) train by Decarlos Brown, whose record includes, among other crimes, a 2013 conviction for larceny and breaking and entering, and for a 2015 conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon which sent him to prison. He was released in 2020 and remained on parole until 2021.
When Brown repeatedly stabbed Iryna in the neck, he was reportedly out from his latest adventure on a cashless “written promise to appear” issued by a notoriously leftist judge on what was reportedly his fourteenth offense. Says The Federalist: “Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released Decarlos Brown Jr. in January on his ‘written promise’ that he would re-appear to court for a hearing on his Class 1 misdemeanor charge that ‘arose after Brown became combative with police officers.’”
Brown is a schizophrenic that even his mother wanted committed. Adds ABC News, “In audio recordings of a conversation between Brown and his sister several days after his arrest, obtained by ABC News, Brown maintains that he has ‘material’ in his body that caused him to attack Zarutska, saying: ‘Make sure it was me that did it, not the material. And I’m telling you, the material did it.’”
Frying pan to fire
Ironically, Iryna Zarutska escaped the violence of Ukraine only to die in “Blue City” violence aboard the aptly named Linx Blue Line of the Charlotte Area Transit System – a transit system which, if memory serves, voters rejected before getting it shoved down their throats.
To get the flavor of Charlotte’s priorities, its own website says it best. After touting expansion of CATS, Mayor Vi Lyles’ page brags:
- “Mayor Lyles has … positioned Charlotte as a leader in sustainability. The Sustainable and Resilient Charlotte by 2050 Resolution, passed unanimously by City Council, reflects her dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and transitioning to zero-carbon sources for city operations by 2030, with a broader goal of shaping Charlotte into a low-carbon city by 2050…
- “Her leadership is characterized by a deep commitment to racial equity and economic inclusion. The Racial Equity Initiative, launched in 2021 with a $250 million investment, exemplifies her dedication to dismantle barriers and foster equality …”
Translated, Charlotte’s priorities are the “Green New Deal” and racial “equity.” The closest thing to addressing crime on the mayor’s page says:
- “In the realm of public safety, Mayor Lyles has been a proponent of the SAFE Charlotte plan, embracing a comprehensive approach to community well-being. The Alternatives to Violence program, which she implemented, reflects her dedication to addressing the root causes of crime and enhancing the city’s safety.”
Clearly, Decarlos Brown wasn’t interested in Lyles’ “Alternatives to Violence.”
Said Town Hall: “Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles not only thanked the media that suppressed the video of the attack on Zarutska, but demanded ‘compassion’ for Brown’s mental health issues.”
Oh, and lest I forget, the District Attorney who also apparently let Brown roam free despite 13 priors was another Democrat, Spencer B. Merriweather III.
So, what happened after the crime?
In what has become a repeating pattern, NC Republicans responded by passing “Iryna’s Law” to eliminate cashless bail, resume the death penalty and give more resources to police, while Democrats try every way they can think of to blame Republicans. The bill was presented to Democrat Governor Josh Stein who, under pressure, signed it only on the last possible day because, after all, jailing repeat violent offenders was such a difficult decision.
In standing before the NC House to oppose Iryna’s Law, which prohibits the cashless bail that precipitated her murder, NC Representative Marcia Morey (D-Durham) – a former judge, no less – had the gall to make the following demand:
“… don’t correlate what happened in January and a magistrate who set a bail according to guidelines to what happened in August. There is no correlation.”
Earlier this week, the US House Judiciary Committee held a field hearing in Charlotte to examine the problem of leftist crime policies, taking testimony from Stephen Federico, whose daughter Logan’s murderer featured a career of “more than two dozen felonies” before invading a home, dragging the 22-year-old woman from bed, naked, and killing her as she begged for her life.
Federico pleaded with lawmakers, saying: “You need to fight for the rest of our children, the rest of the innocents, and stop protecting the people that keep taking them from us, please.”
That was not what Democrat U.S. House Representative Deborah Ross (D-2) had in mind, however, when she declared to the hearing: “This is not Democrats’ fault. This is the fault of Congress and our legislature not doing enough,” before making a dubious and unsubstantiated claim that Donald Trump somehow cut law enforcement funding.
Incidentally, during the hearing, Ross apparently could also not be bothered to know the difference between murder victims Logan Frederico and Iryna Zarutska, which became evident when she misidentified Logan.
Death by DEI
The logical reaction to a murder on CATS would be to
increase security, no? But not in Charlotte, where Mayor Lyles is so much smarter than we peasants. According to The Center Square, Charlotte has reduced armed security on CATS by 55% (from 88 to 39) since 2018, while the cost of said security has increased by 211% (from $5.9 to $18.4 million per year).
And the reason for this reduction in security with increasing cost? If you guessed “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion” (DEI), you get bonus points. You see, the only firms that can bid for the CATS security contract are those certified by the “Charlotte Business Inclusion” program, of which the city’s compliance officer said, in an email: “… solicitation is only open to CBI security firms, it is not open to other firms regardless if they have other certifications by other parties.”
Insult to injury
Helping to perpetuate conditions which precipitated Iryna’s murder, a bill to end DEI statewide continues to languish in the legislature after being vetoed by Gov. Stein. We should also note that Charlotte prohibits concealed handgun permit-holders from carrying on CATS, which it considers city property, creating yet another supposedly “gun free” attractant to violent sociopaths.
Republicans often encourage Democrats to continue “soft-on-crime” policies because those policies poll poorly among the electorate, giving Republicans an advantage going into the midterm elections. Beyond politics, however, are very real murders, rapes, and assaults.
DEI destroys not only jobs, but lives.
About Paul Valone
Author F. Paul Valone has been kicking leftist tail for twenty-eight years. Alarmed by the U.S. House passage of the “assault weapon” ban in 1994, he decided to take action. Finding no suitable organization, he organized a rally leading to the creation of a 501(c)(4) organization, Grass Roots North Carolina (GRNC), which remains North Carolina’s primary and most successful gun rights group to this day.
Since Iryna was from the Ukraine and New to America. She should have been warned about the 13% who will attack, rob.,rape and murder fir ni reason at all. Iryna should have been told to avoid the 13% at all costs. The crazy Charlotte mayor said she had sympathy and love for murderer Brown No mention of Iryna. But, the nayor and city council of Charlotte are all black, they could care less about white victims of black crime. Another nut. Jay Jones running in Virginia for office , had sent out email talking about how he’d like to put… Read more »
It would help our country’s deficit if we stopped paying living costs for perps like this and put them in the ground. I know most prisons and asylums are state funded, but in part by Federal funding. I don’t advocate the death penalty if there is any room for doubt and/or true mitigating circumstances but when a life is taken maliciously and with intent the perp needs to be sentenced to death and executed within two months of sentencing. We need to do away with garbage bag appeals. In fact, when an attorney or organization files an appeal to a… Read more »
Paul, you got half of it. The other half is follow the money. Who do CBI companies employ and for how much? Do they or their employees make political contributions and to whom? If there is anything the Democrat party is historically famous for it is machine politics. And how do Democrat Machines “make” money? Graft, coercion, drugs, prostitution, gambling, protection (including protection of criminals), slavery, etc., etc., etc.. Laws against firearms or their use is just part of the protection they provide to criminals, gangs and cartels. Quid pro quo. It’s in their financial interest. Their driving factors are… Read more »
Bernie Goetz. PauI Kersey.
Tried by 12 vs Carried by 6
2nd paragraph in the article says it all! Sown chaos is the foundation for the end goal.
demonrats will be demons evil to the core
Looking at the lead-in photo of everyone on their cell phones and no one’s paying any attention to what’s going on around them. When I get on public transport, I always go to the back and sit down so I can see everyone if possible.
Why do leftist politicians pay attention to DEI crap when the Chinese are preparing to attack the U.S.? SHTF day is coming. This just in: “There’s No Hiding It; China’s Actions Say It’s Planning a Preemptive Attack on the US By streiff Follow | 7:52 PM on October 06, 2025 China is actively preparing for war against the United States. The signs are obvious and ominous. During the Biden regime, we saw the first signs of it. The Chinese began a campaign of “elite capture” in the Western Pacific, quietly buying legislators until they controlled the parliaments of at least… Read more »
Interested to look into potential graft of certified Charlotte Business Inclusion vendors? First, how do you find them? https://www.charlottenc.gov/Growth-and-Development/CBI/CBI-Certified-Vendors From here you can follow the link to get a .pdf on how to search for a CBI vendor which provides the link https://charlotte.diversitycompliance.com/ From there you can Search Certified Directory and download an Excel file (6.6Mb) or a .csv version. They will record your IP address so use a service to hide yours if you can. I have only just opened it and see there are 6,367 entries. I’m hoping some of these businesses show up in https://www.opensecrets.org/donor-lookup/advanced It’s the… Read more »
Sadly. Iryna’s murder serves to once again emphasize the critical importance of continual situational awareness, and being prepared as your own First Responder on the day your name is drawn in the Evil Dispensing Violence Lottery. Iryna won the lottery, lost her life.