Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Monday condemned the killing of a young Ukrainian woman in Charlotte, North Carolina, calling the crime “horrible” and urging the country to confront acts of violence with strength.
Iryna Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on the city’s light rail train on Aug. 22. Authorities said she was stabbed three times, including once in the neck, and died at the scene. Police identified the suspect as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, who was arrested shortly after the attack and charged with first-degree murder.
Speaking at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, Trump said he was sending his “love and hope” to Zarutska’s family and warned that the nation must take such crimes seriously.
“We’re all people of religion, but there are evil people, and we have to confront that,” Trump said, according to Fox News. “A lunatic just got up and started. It’s right on tape. Not really watchable because it’s so horrible, but just viciously stabbed. She’s just sitting there … So they’re evil people. We have to be able to handle that. If we don’t handle that, we don’t have a country.”
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles responded to the killing over the weekend, saying she was “heartbroken.”
“The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public,” Lyles said in a statement published by The Hill. “This was a senseless and tragic loss. My prayers remain with her loved ones as they continue to grieve through an unimaginable time.”
She added: “Like so many of you, I’m heartbroken — and I’ve been thinking hard about what safety really looks like in our city. I remain committed to doing all we can to protect our residents and ensure Charlotte is a place where everyone feels safe.”
The president also blasted the crime in a post to Truth Social.
“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,” he wrote. “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?”
