The fallout continues from the senseless stabbing attack on Charlotte’s light rail system, which left 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska dead.
When last we left you, the city’s Democrat mayor, Vi Lyles, issued her third statement since the murder happened, after facing intense criticism over the first two, which focused more on a sympathetic portrayal of the alleged murderer, 34-year-old homeless man and repeat offender Decarlos Brown Jr., than Zarutska.
“We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health,” Lyles wrote four days after the killing took place, while also noting that “what I have come to understand is that [the suspect] has long struggled with mental health and appears to have suffered a crisis.”
Her third try, issued Monday, was more focused on trying to clean up the mess she made, with Lyles pointing the finger directly at the court system and calling for reform, while noting additional measures the city would take to beef up security in the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
But if Lyles was thinking that would satisfy President Trump and members of his administration, who were also weighing in Monday on the situation, she was very wrong.
On Monday night, DOT Secretary Sean Duffy announced his department would not only be investigating Charlotte, but also that federal funding might be at risk:
If mayors can’t keep their trains and buses safe, they don’t deserve the taxpayers’ money.
@USDOT will be investigating Charlotte over its failure to protect Iryna Zarutska. And we will also be looking at other crime ridden cities across the country.
I was moved by a Charlotte resident who said today: “I don’t feel safe on public transportation. But, I have to work.”
.@SecDuffy on Charlotte: “Maybe it’s appropriate that we start pulling some of that [federal transit] money back — because I don’t think the American taxpayer wants to pay for the homelessness and criminal elements that harm little 23-year-old girls.” pic.twitter.com/uWVWL0jmBX
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) September 9, 2025
The comments come as Charlotte pursues a sales tax increase for transit expansion. The city is relying on additional federal funding for rail projects. https://t.co/lCS6qqM0f8
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) September 9, 2025
And that’s not all. Earlier in the day, Monday, FBI Director Kash Patel noted they had been investigating since the crime happened:
🚨 The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one.
Stay tuned.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 9, 2025
Additionally, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, hinted that federal charges could be forthcoming against the suspect:
The stabbing on the Charlotte light rail was a tragedy, and we are looking at every way the federal government can bring justice to Iryna Zarutska and her loved ones. This act of violence affects the confidence of all those who rely on public transportation to commute to work and go about their daily business, and restoring that confidence is our mission.
For good reasons, the Trump administration doesn’t trust Charlotte “leaders” to try and right the wrongs that happened on their watch and which they, in fact, enabled. So the “find out” phase is coming, and we are so ready for it.
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