President Donald Trump declared that “blood is on the hands of the Democrats” following the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month. The victim was attacked aboard a light rail train by a man with an extensive criminal record.
The incident reignited outrage over the weekend after the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) released surveillance footage showing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska boarding the Lynx Blue Line before a man drew a knife and stabbed her three times, including once in the neck.
“I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee, who came to America to escape the vicious War in Ukraine, and was innocently riding the Metro in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic,” Trump began on his Truth Social platform.
“The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES. What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP,” he added.
“The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper,” he continued.
“North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it! Additionally, where is the outrage from the Mainstream Media on this horrible tragedy? VOTE FOR MICHAEL WHATLEY FOR UNITED STATES SENATE, HE WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!” the president concluded.
Earlier, the White House also posted a reaction from the president on the X platform: “The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES. What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP.”
The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, was taken into custody shortly after the stabbing and hospitalized before being booked on a charge of first-degree murder. Records obtained by The New York Post show Brown’s criminal history spans more than a decade, including arrests for felony larceny, armed robbery, and communicating threats.
Police said Brown did not know Zarutska and described the attack as random.
By targeting former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina in his response, Trump placed the tragedy squarely into the political spotlight of next year’s U.S. Senate race, where Cooper and Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley are the leading contenders.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) echoed Trump’s sentiment on Monday, claiming that Cooper’s policies on crime “kept violent criminals like this on the streets instead of in jail where they belong.”
Whatley added in a X post on Monday that “a vote for Roy Cooper is a vote for more crime, more violence, more criminals.”
He followed up later in the day after Trump’s post on Truth Social, adding that the president was “spot on” with his assessment of the Democrats.
“My far-left opponent Roy Cooper’s spineless, soft-on-crime policies have unleashed predators like Decarlos Brown Jr. and countless other violent thugs who unleash hell on innocent people because they know they’ll face no real justice,” Whatley wrote.
A spokesman for Cooper’s campaign responded to the attack as well.
“This was a heartbreaking, despicable act of evil and Iryna Zarutska’s family and loved ones are in our prayers,” the spokesperson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Roy Cooper knows North Carolinians need to be safe in their communities; he spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and drug dealers, increasing the penalties for violence against law enforcement, and keeping thousands of criminals off the streets and behind bars.”