WASHINGTON — The FBI and Department of Transportation are both probing the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina train last month, the agencies said Monday.
“The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one,” FBI Director Kash Patel wrote on X. “Stay tuned.”
Federal Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy added in a post, “I stand firm with President Trump’s message of zero tolerance for criminality, especially on our federal DOT funded public transportation.
“If mayors can’t keep their trains and buses safe, they don’t deserve the taxpayers’ money,” Duffy tweeted. “@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.”
He said the horror hit home for many Americans — including himself.
“I was moved by a Charlotte resident who said today: ‘I don’t feel safe on public transportation. But, I have to work,’” the transportation chief wrote. “No American should be put in that position and the Trump administration will do everything in its power to change that.”
Suspected killer Decarlos Brown Jr. — who had been arrested and released at least 14 times previously by the authorities — was caught on a security camera repeatedly thrusting his knife into Zarutska shortly after she boarded a bus home from her job at a Charlotte pizzeria Aug. 22, authorities said.
Trump said in a statement that the video of the slaying was “horrific” and blamed “cashless bail” policies in the Democrat-controlled city for the death of the “beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee.
“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,” the president said.
“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.”
It’s unclear whether Trump, Duffy or others may try to use government funding to compel changes in Charlotte’s bail policies. Local police are cooperating with the feds in their investigations.
Brown, 34, was released in January by North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes with just a “written promise” to show up for court, though his rap sheet showed a history of violence, mental illness including schizophrenia, and past incarceration for crimes such as robbery.
He is currently being held without bond in the Mecklenburg County Jail on murder charges.
