Trump, Stein, Berger, Hall, and Moore react to Charlotte murder
President Donald Trump continued to shine a national spotlight on the August 22nd murder of a 23-year-old woman on the Charlotte light rail system.
In a fiery post on Truth Social, President Trump condemned the Charlotte light rail murder and blasted Democrats over their soft-on-crime policies.
“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,” wrote Trump. “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. 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. North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it!”
For the first time since the murder, Democrat Governor Josh Stein posted about the issue and called on the General Assembly to pass his budget recommendation.
“I am heartbroken for the family of Iryna Zarutska, who lost their loved one to this senseless act of violence, and I am appalled by the footage of her murder,” Stein wrote. “We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe. That’s why my budget calls for more funding to hire more well-trained police officers. I call upon the legislature to pass my law enforcement recruitment and retention package to address vacancies in our state and local agencies so they can stop these horrific crimes and hold violent criminals accountable.”
North Carolina House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, shot back at Stein’s remarks, saying it’s time to “actually enforce the damn law.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsCrazy idea: stop coddling violent criminals and actually enforce the damn law.
— Speaker Destin Hall (@ncspeakerhall) September 8, 2025
Iryna’s murderer had been arrested FOURTEEN TIMES. Social justice warriors in the judicial system let him back out on the streets. Time to clean up the courts. https://t.co/79JBf7XL6q
North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, responded by saying he’s drafting legislation to repeal former Governor Roy Cooper’s 2020 Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, launched while Josh Stein was attorney general. It was created by Cooper in June of 2020, during protests stemming from the death of George Floyd, to “identify intentional and unintentional racial biases in the criminal justice and law enforcement systems and to highlight the unequal outcomes that result from these biases.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsSen. Cotton — This is exactly why I’m working on a bill that includes a repeal and prohibition of this task force and others like it from meeting and endangering the lives of North Carolinians. #ncpol https://t.co/uuIWltjEDO
— Senator Phil Berger (@SenatorBerger) September 9, 2025
Lawmakers will return to Raleigh for sessions on September 22–25, October 21, November 18, and December 16, providing opportunities to introduce new legislation.
US Rep. Tim Moore, R-NC14, spoke on the house floor Monday evening highlighting the preparators past criminal record.
“Iryna Zarutska should still be alive. She fled Ukraine seeking safety and freedom, and instead she was stabbed to death in a Charlotte light rail car by a 14-time criminal who should never have been back on the streets,” proclaimed Moore on the floor. “In fact, a person who had skipped bond on three occasions in the past. Leftist politicians and judges who have enabled this violent repeat offender to walk have blood on their hands. As a representative of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, I’m not going to stay silent while innocent people pay the price for broken bail policies and soft on crime judges.”
Rep. Moore introduced The Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act (HR 5213) alongside Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-NY21, and Rep. John James, R-MI10, that would end cashless bail.
“Trump, Stein, Berger, Hall, and Moore react to Charlotte murder” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.
