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A Ukrainian refugee fled a war zone, crossed an ocean, and came to America for safety. Instead, she found herself stabbed to death on a Charlotte light rail train. Her final moments, captured on chilling surveillance video, should shake us to our core.
The woman had escaped Putin’s bombs only to meet her end at the hands of a repeat offender set free again and again under the banner of “restorative justice” and “racial equity.” This wasn’t random. It was preventable. And it happened because too many Leftist leaders in our cities have convinced themselves that empathy for criminals is more virtuous than the protection of the innocent
And it all comes down to virtue signaling.
Be informed, not misled.
Finally, yesterday afternoon, North Carolina Governor Josh Stein (a Democrat) spoke to the public about the incident. This was after social media exploded over the weekend by surveillance footage, released by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), showing 23-year-old Zarutska boarding a Lynx Blue line last month before a man pulled out a knife and began stabbing her three times, including at least once in the neck.
Fox News is reporting:
Zarutska, who had fled war-town Ukraine, grabs her neck as blood spilled onto the floor. Authorities later pronounced her dead at the scene.
The attack, which took place on August 22, prompted many on social media to criticize Stein for speaking out about George Floyd, a Black man killed by a White police officer, but not being as vocal for this murder, where a White woman was murdered by an alleged Black assailant.
Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has had nothing to say about the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, a resident of his state," journalist Megan Basham posted on X. "Yet, in 2020, when he was attorney general, he DID find time to lament the death of George Floyd and initiate a "Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice."
"This task force's recommendations included increasing ‘pre-trial release’--which is exactly the kind of thing that allowed Zarutska's killer, DeCarlos Brown, to be on the streets after 14 previous arrests."
"Not a word about Iryna Zarutska from Democrat North Carolina Governor Josh Stein," according to a conservative influencer account, LibsofTiktok posted on X.
"Iryna Zarutska’s slaying is the #1 new story on X - not just North Carolina - and yet NC Governor Josh Stein has had NOTHING to say about it," Article III Project senior counsel Will Chamberlain posted on X. "This is why friends don’t let friends vote Democrat."
"The lack of response by Democrat politicians in North Carolina is outrageous," John Lott, founder and president of the Crime Prevention Research Center, posted on X. "This murderer had a long, violent criminal record. Gov @JoshStein_ says nothing."
Video shows moments before Ukrainian refugee stabbed to death on Charlotte light rail
— John R Lott Jr. (@JohnRLottJr) September 8, 2025
The lack of response by Democrat politicians in North Carolina is outrageous. This murderer had a long violent criminal record. Gov @JoshStein_ says nothing https://t.co/Eai6NQbUW9
More via Fox News.
Stein's comment on Monday didn't satisfy many social media users who accused the governor of shifting the blame for the attack.
"He was arrested 14 times," White House deputy press secretary Abigail Marone posted on X. "The police did their jobs. You did not. And shame on you for trying to shift the blame."
"Preposterous statement from the @NC_Governor," conservative commentator Michael Knowles posted on X. "The problem isn't that cops didn't arrest the guy. He was arrested over two dozen times! The problem is that liberal prosecutors, judges, and legislators like you refused to keep him locked up."
"You were Attorney General of North Carolina when her killer was arrested and released from jail 14 times," conservative commentator Greg Price posted on X. "The police did their job. You did not."
When empathy turns toxic
As Fox News reported, "Brown had been booked again and again."
Each time he was released. Each time the system told him his actions carried no real consequence.
Progressive ideology insists that swift accountability is oppressive, that harsh sentences are unjust, that compassion demands second, and third, and twelfth chances. But compassion without truth is cruelty. Meanwhile, ordinary citizens are terrorized. A young woman seeking refuge from tyranny is butchered. Children walk past open-air drug markets on the way to school. Women in cities across America avoid public transit for fear of predators who should be behind bars. This is not justice. It’s not equity. It’s cowardice dressed up as kindness.
Town Hall says, "Politics matters because policy matters, because people matter. Every vote for a 'compassionate' progressive prosecutor is a vote to sacrifice innocents on the altar of ideology. Every time voters reward officials who boast about empathy for criminals, they guarantee cruelty for victims. The Ukrainian woman killed in Charlotte should be alive today. Her blood cries out from the tracks of that light rail car. And yet her story will be forgotten quickly in political circles because it doesn’t fit the narrative. There will be no marches in her name, no professional activists demanding justice. Why? Because her killer doesn’t check the boxes necessary for outrage in our corrupted cultural system."
This is the hypocrisy that was exposed after George Floyd’s death. Many “apolitical” evangelicals shouted about systemic racism when a black man died at the hands of a white officer, but remain silent when a white woman is murdered by a black assailant. The inconsistency exposes what this is really about: power, not principle.
Let’s be clear: not every crime is racially motivated. We don’t know Brown’s heart. But we do know this—some actions are evil, period. And when leaders refuse to name evil, they enable it. When churches choose silence because the facts don’t match their preferred storyline, they betray their calling. We cannot arrest our way out of every problem, but neither can we “compassion” our way out of evil. Some individuals must be restrained. Some crimes demand capital punishment. Genesis 9:6 could not be clearer: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed.” This isn’t vengeance; it’s justice. Swift, certain accountability preserves life by deterring evil.
Takeaway
Town Hall notes, "The Charlotte stabbing forces us to ask: whose side are we on? The side of victims, safety, and order—or the side of criminals, chaos, and decay? Do we stand with leaders who excuse and release, or with those who punish and protect? Empathy may sound virtuous, but when detached from truth, it becomes a weapon against the innocent. The Ukrainian refugee believed America was a place where good triumphs over evil, where the vulnerable are shielded, not sacrificed. That dream died with her on that train."
We owe it to her—and to every future victim—to reject toxic empathy and demand policies rooted in reality. Justice must be swift. Punishment must be certain. Leaders must stop excusing evil and start restraining it. Because at the end of the day, this isn’t just about crime policy. It’s about whether we believe in the existence of good and evil. Evil is real. It destroys. It takes lives. Good is real. It protects. It restores. The clash is as old as time. Charlotte reminds us that the side we choose will determine whether our communities are safe havens for the innocent—or hunting grounds for predators.
And in that choice, may we finally have the courage to stand with the good.
Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Engaged, Be Bold. Be Prayerful.
