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Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska’s fatal stabbing on a Charlotte train has exacerbated the U.S. public safety debate, but as President Donald Trump A city council member said the float brought the National Guard into U.S. cities to mitigate the crime, saying it wasn’t Charlotte’s solution – at least for now.
“[I don’t want to see the Guard brought in] For now…just because Charlotte’s crime is statistically just like it is in most parts of the country,” Edwin B. Peacock III, a Republican of the Charlotte City Council, told Fox News Tuesday.
Peacock believes that statistics do not reflect the real reality experienced by many residents.
Charlotte train stabbing puts North Carolina commuters on the edge after random attack
The suspect Decarlos Brown Jr. held a knife and then stabbed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska (left) on a Charlotte Light Rail train. Charlotte City Councilman Edwin B. Peacock III appears on the right. (News/Charlotte Regional Transit System (left); “Fox & Friends First” (right).
“This is paper statistics that most people are like cmmpd [Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department] Persevere, I just know that I have been in this position before, and it is not something you can take for granted.
He added: “If someone is unsafe in our city, statistics will not help such victims.”
Peacock admits that Charlotte does have a “Crime issues“But in addition to introducing the National Guard to solve it, solutions were proposed.
“You have to take the actual situation of this type of crime seriously,” he said.
“You have clearly pointed this out through the court system where there are failures, but it also helps enforce the actual law on the books.”
Patel and Duffy Signal Charlotte’s train murder under federal investigation has state impact
Surveillance footage shows the moment when Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death in a random attack on the Lynx blue line on Friday, August 22, 2025. (News/Charlotte Regional Transportation System)
The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., has a more than a decade of arrest history, including convictions for felony theft and felony break-in and felony charges, was convicted in 2013, and a 2015 conviction for robbery, and a dangerous weapon sentenced to more than six years in prison. Fox News Numbers.
A creepy surveillance video released by the Charlotte Regional Transportation System (CATS) shows that Zarutska, 23, stepped onto the Lynx Blue Line after 9:45 pm on Friday, August 22 and took a seat in front of Brown.
Brown can be seen three times before suddenly standing and stabbing Zarutska, including once, including once in the neck. However, the socket stopped the video before the actual stabbing occurred.
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Peacock said council members received “spam” emails in their inbox, urging members to support the mayor The initiative aims to put more police officers on trains and to combat evasion of fares.
He noted that Charlotte’s light rail operates on open platform systems, meaning that few people pay for execution.
“The message to most riders is that it’s a free ride, which is not,” he said. “If you don’t pay, you won’t ride.”
Fox News’ Bradford Betz and Sarah Rumpf Whitten contributed to the report.
