Too Little Too Late: X Crushes Leftist Charlotte Mayor For Half-Hearted Response to Brutal Murder

The statist mayor of Charlotte, North Carolina, is heartbroken over what she describes as a 'Tragedy' that occurred on her city's light rail system, known as 'CATS Rail.'

The 'Tragedy,' as the mayor says, occurred over two weeks ago when a man by the name of Decarlos Brown brutally murdered Iryna Zarutska, attacking her from behind and stabbing her multiple times.

The 23-year-old Ukrainian immigrant was heading home from work and sat in front of Brown on the CAT train. The now viral video shows Brown pull a knife from his pocket and callously take the young woman's life, then calmly walk away, a trail of blood dripping from his hand.

She fled the war, only to be killed in the United States.

Twenty-three-year-old Ukrainian Irina Zarutska was fatally stabbed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The attacker was a 34-year-old man named Decarlos Brown Jr., who has since been detained. pic.twitter.com/bsRktu6NxC
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) September 6, 2025

Brown, who has a rap sheet of violent crime as long as his arm, was later taken into custody. He had been arrested fourteen times before taking Iryna's life, re-offending each time he was released and being released each time he offended.

The North Carolina stabber had been arrested at least 14 different times and was still walking the streets. This is what the progressive justice system enables. pic.twitter.com/C0PbLRy7hg
— Toad (@LearnToToad) September 6, 2025

There has been no national media coverage of the story. A violent black offender killing an innocent immigrant woman who came to America seeking safety doesn't fit the left-wing media narrative. Especially in a city run by Democrats.

0 AP stories on this deadly attack
0 PBS stories on this deadly attack
0 NYT stories on this deadly attack
0 NPR stories on this deadly attack
0 WSJ stories on this deadly attack
0 BBC stories on this deadly attack
0 CNN stories on this deadly attack
0 WAPO stories on this… pic.twitter.com/962qmFOBNm
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) September 7, 2025

Virtually 0 national outrage over a woman getting stabbed to death by a violent repeat offender on the NC train pic.twitter.com/wfLlNE7chG
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 7, 2025

Unsurprisingly, Mayor Vi Lyles seemed more than content to let the senseless act of deadly violence go unnoticed. She didn't even acknowledge the murder until after the video went viral.

Her initial statement doesn't name the victim nor condemn her killer. Instead, she defends her soft-on-crime stance, saying 'We can not arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health,' completely ignoring the fact that if Brown had remained in custody, Iryna Zarutska would still be alive.

BREAKING - In a statement on the Charlotte light rail incident, Democrat Mayor Vi Lyles insists the city cannot “arrest our way out of issues” like this, failing to mention the victim, Iryna Zarutska, even once and showing more concern for the perpetrator’s homeless status. pic.twitter.com/rChTP07hQL
— Right Angle News Network (@Rightanglenews) September 6, 2025

Like most progressives (read ultra-left-wing statists), she has plenty of empathy for the killer. As for the victim, she is just a statistic, a line item on a spreadsheet in another crime report to be filed and forgotten.

Just incredible.

Democrats are now the pro-criminals who-stab-women-in-the-neck party. https://t.co/qOmoSGSgbQ
— Amy Curtis (@RantyAmyCurtis) September 7, 2025

Iryna Zarutska say her name
— Mom Boobs (@TherealMomboobs) September 6, 2025

Lyles would have preferred not to have ever said her name. We'd be willing to bet a staffer had to tell her what Iryna's name was when public outrage compelled her to publicly express her faux heartbreak.

The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public. I want to thank our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family.

This was a senseless and tragic loss. My prayers…
— Mayor Vi Lyles (@CLTMayor) September 6, 2025

The rest of the Mayor's feeble attempt at damage control:

This was a senseless and tragic loss. My prayers remain with her loved ones as they continue to grieve through an unimaginable time.
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.

So heartbroken that for two weeks after the vicious killing, she didn't utter Iryna's name once. So heartbroken that she thanks the media for their attempt to bury the story for her before she expresses sympathy for the victim.

How did you think this would end? pic.twitter.com/Lj8jFsZwtR
— theRoddick (@OriginalRoddick) September 7, 2025

it wasn't just a tragedy, it was a crime, committed by the people who allowed him to walk free over and over again.
— Rani, Last of The Red Hot Boomers (@ShadesOfRani) September 6, 2025

You sound more angry towards people sharing the footage than you are towards the violent thug who stabbed Iryna.

Bizarre.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) September 6, 2025

There is little doubt that she is far angrier that the video has gone viral. It's exposed she really is, a soft-on-crime leftist. It's forced her to defend her indefensible policies. It's not bizarre, it's Democrat.

How can you talk about “respect for Iryna’s family” when your party’s policies allowed a repeat violent offender to brutally murder her on your city’s property? https://t.co/7zVjY67DXX
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) September 6, 2025

I’m outraged.

This is my state.

I want answers as to why someone arrested 14 times was let back out on the streets to murder people in cold blood.

People need to go to prison for life for this.

I want punishments for all those who enabled this violent killer.
— Matt Van Swol (@matt_vanswol) September 7, 2025

There's zero chance of anyone from the city being held accountable for their complicity in Iryna's death. Brown is far more important to the left than his victim will ever be. The only possible way that anyone in government could be held accountable would be at the ballot box. That's not likely in deep blue Charlotte.

Make no mistake, repeatedly releasing the likes of Brown to prey on the innocent is a policy that the statist mayor believes in. She's not pondering ways to make the city safer. She's pandering in the hope that this story fades. There is no interest beyond sweeping this story under the rug.

This lying sack of sh*t will never do anything to genuinely make her city safer. Dems’ will never abandon their criminal-enabling belief system of DEI, restorative justice and other similar destructive horsesh*t. Dems will continue to sacrifice the innocent on that altar of evil. https://t.co/onMtmisqkQ
— Super Journalist (Retired) - JOURN-EL of Skrypton (@Magnum_CK) September 7, 2025

Therein lies the problem. Lyles, like the rest of the lunatic fringe of the left, believes they are virtuous. They will support dangerous policies like 'Restorative Justice' until the bitter end, no matter how many innocent lives are lost.

The useless mayor of Charlotte cannot bring herself to condemn the man who stabbed the woman on the light rail. Hey but at least she’s “thinking hard about what safety looks like.” Yes keep thinking, Vi. That’ll fix this. https://t.co/Myj01Hvv4V
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) September 6, 2025

Everybody should see what you let happen you piece of garbage https://t.co/JGDxYLs7q0
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 6, 2025

She feels no sympathy toward Iryna, or any victim of violent crime, for that matter. She's only upset that, because of social media, the story became viral, despite the best efforts of the lapdog media.

Unbelievable. You’re upset that this murder is getting attention. You are complicit.
— Spitfire (@DogRightGirl) September 6, 2025

She knows she's complicit, she just doesn't care.

You really suck at your job.
— JayJay McMaster, CD (@tantrumblue1) September 7, 2025

That's Vi Lyles in a nutshell. Another leftist mayor who puts criminals first. Another left-wing mayor, hoping that another violent crime in another left-wing city would go unnoticed. Only feigning sympathy when public pressure was applied by social media.

We are the media now, and we must continue to expose the likes of Mayor Lyles. The leftist lapdogs in the Mainstream Media will always provide cover for the left, regardless of the consequences. As it stands, Iryna Zarutska is the latest victim to lose her life to progressive policy. Until they are all voted out of office, she will not be the last.