President Donald Trump on Monday addressed the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, saying the U.S. must confront “evil people” to protect the country.
During remarks at the Museum of the Bible, Trump said, “We’re all people of religion, but there are evil people. And we have to confront that. I just give my love and hope to the family of the young woman who was stabbed this morning or last night in Charlotte by a madman.”
Authorities identified the suspect as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, who was arrested and charged with first-degree murder shortly after the attack.
“A lunatic just got up and started,” Trump said. “It’s right on tape. Not really watchable because it’s so horrible, but just viciously stabbed. She’s just sitting there.”
Surveillance footage released by the Charlotte Area Transit System shows Zarutska boarding the Lynx Blue Line around 9:45 p.m. on August 22. Wearing her pizzeria uniform, she was scrolling on her phone when a man in a red hoodie sat behind her. Minutes later, he pulled out a knife and stabbed her three times, including once in the neck. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The suspect was later seen walking through the train car, removing his sweatshirt, and standing near the doors as passengers looked on.
“So they’re evil people,” Trump said. “We have to be able to handle that. If we don’t handle that, we don’t have a country.”
Records show Brown had a criminal history spanning more than a decade, including charges of felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats. Police confirmed the stabbing was random and that he and Zarutska did not know each other.
Trump also criticized cashless bail policies, saying, “This cashless bail started a wave in our country where a killer kills somebody and is out on the street by the afternoon and, in many cases, going out and killing again, cashless bail.”
