Trump comments on knife murder of Ukrainian woman
US President Donald Trump has condemned the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old Ukrainian woman on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, describing the incident as a “horrific” act committed by a “mentally deranged lunatic,” according to a statement posted on Truth Social on Monday.
The victim, Iryna Zarutskaya, left Ukraine after the escalation of the conflict in 2022 and was killed on August 22 while riding the city’s Lynx Blue Line. Surveillance video released by the authorities over the weekend shows Zarutskaya being ambushed from behind and stabbed multiple times in the neck by a man later identified as Decarlos Brown, 34.
Trump referenced the footage in both his social media post and in a speech in Washington, DC, saying the suspect had been arrested and released 14 times on cashless bail and should not have been free at the time of the killing.
“What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP,” Trump wrote.
“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 added.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police have charged Brown with first-degree murder. Officials say he has a long criminal history, including armed robbery, and previously served more than six years in prison. A judge ordered him to undergo psychiatric evaluation earlier this year, but the assessment was not completed.
Trump also criticized the media’s response to the killing, asking, “Where is the outrage from the Mainstream Media on this horrible tragedy?”
During his remarks at the Museum of the Bible, Trump said, “We’re all people of religion, but there are evil people. We have to confront that. If we don’t handle that, we don’t have a country.”
Zarutskaya bled out and died at the scene. The suspect was taken into custody shortly after the attack and is currently being held at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center with no bond.
