18. Iryna Zarutska -- apathy claims another victim

On August 22nd 2025, Iryna Zarutska was murdered on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. She was a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who fled the country in 2022. She had a degree in art and restoration, and was attending college with hopes of becoming a veterinary assistant. She worked at a local pizzeria and was on her way home from work when she was murdered.

The killer (Decarlos Brown) stabbed her 3 times with a foldable pocketknife, including at least once in the neck. Iryna was pronounced dead at the scene. Brown has an extensive criminal record, a diagnosis of schizophrenia, and represents a complete and total failure on the part of the justice system. This man had a total of 14 arrests and citations in North Carolina dating back to 2011, including assaults, disorderly conduct, armed robbery and domestic violence. In several recent cases, charges were either dismissed or did not lead to prison time. The Mecklenburg County DA publicly admitted that this case exposed vulnerabilities in how the justice and mental health systems handle repeat offenders.

In fact, his entire family has a long history of crime -- his older brother is currently serving 27 - 36 years for a 2012 shotgun killing, and his younger sister's record includes shoplifting, larceny, felony conspiracy, and vehicle theft. Their father's record includes breaking and entering, felony conspiracy, larceny, and possession of a weapon on a university campus.

Doctors had diagnosed him with schizophrenia and prescribed treatment, but Brown refused medication. His mother (Michelle Dewitt) sought involuntary hospitalization, after which he still refused the prescribed treatment. According to family members, Brown became aggressive, argued with himself, shouted unpredictably, and slammed doors. Fearing for their safety, they placed him in a homeless shelter shortly before the attack. In January, Brown repeatedly misused 911 claiming that "an artificial material" had been implanted in his body that controlled his speech and actions. He later told his sister after the attack that "the material" made him do it.

Brown's own mother said the courts should not have released her son back into the community, given his mental condition and criminal behavior. Brown has been charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held without bond.

Decarlos Brown may have been the one wielding the knife, but let's be clear: he is not the only one responsible for Iryna's death. 

First -- every one of those passengers who sat by and watched as he stabbed her, said nothing, did nothing, and turned away when she looked to them for help, is equally guilty. Even after the danger had passed and Decarlos left a trail of Iryna's blood down the center aisle, no one lifted a finger as she sat there, buried her face in her hands, and died.

Second -- the complete and utter failure of the justice system to keep Brown locked up, after showing a blatant pattern of dangerous behavior, corroborated by family members.

Third -- the demonizing, racist rhetoric of the left. Decarlos is heard multiple times on the video footage saying "I got that white girl" after killing her -- yet every major news outlet looks around bewildered, shaking their heads, saying "there was no clear motive." In fact, the media didn't even report on the murder until people on social media started criticizing them for ignoring it. If this had been a white man who killed a woman of any other race, they'd be chomping at the bit to say it was racially motivated. When Daniel Penny put a black man in a chokehold after he threatened the other passengers, the left was quick to crucify him as a racist vigilante -- even though a pathologist verified the chokehold was not the cause of death. If there had been a Daniel Penny on that bus, Iryna might be alive today.

The left has spent years preaching that whites are racists, oppressors, supremacists, privileged, neonazis, etc. That white people should be ashamed of history that no one alive has anything to do with. That white people are responsible for every misfortune that happens to a black person. Blatant racism against whites is prevalent online, promptly followed by people claiming you "can't be racist toward white people." Yet the very idea that racism "doesn't apply" to one specific race of people is, in fact, racist in and of itself.

This dehumanization has progressed to the point where in the minds of those people, our lives do not matter. When Camp Mystic flooded and 27 drowned, the first reaction from a black creator on social media was to proclaim that she "didn't feel bad" because they were "little white girls." Her comments were also full of other black women mocking the deaths. "But it's just words, nobody's actually hurting people because they're white" -- tell that to the 14-year-old girl who was raped by 3 Pakistani men in Rotherham, who told her "this is what white girls are for" and went on to call her "white slut" amongst other racial insults. Tell that to the 66-year-old man in Louisiana who was killed by 2 black men while fixing his mailbox. They admitted they "just wanted to kill a white person."

There have been MULTIPLE GoFundMe pages posted for Decarlos Brown, as if he's the victim. "Raise funds to stop the injustice against Decarlos Brown Jr" reads one. "Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr legal fees" reads another. The exact same thing was done for Karmelo Anthony, another black teen who murdered a white teen after being caught stealing from his tent. And countless others. Every time without fail, when the perpetrator is black, it's "ohhh the system failed him" or "she must have done something to deserve it" or just good old "this is injustice!!! He didn't do nothing!"

The damaging double standards have escalated to a breaking point. If it continues, it will set back race relations decades. People are tired of it.

RIP Iryna Zarutska -- I imagine you're taking care of all the animals up there.