I hesitated to write this. Tragedies are complicated, and the last thing I want is to turn a young woman’s death into a political talking point. But after I shared a few thoughts on X, they clearly resonated. More than 3 million people saw the post and thousands more have replied.
I’m putting my thoughts here so I can slow down, add context, and say what a thread could not.
The Queen City
I live in Charlotte. Like many families, I’ve taken the light rail with my kids to games and dinners uptown. When CATS released the footage of Iryna Zarutska’s final minutes, the city felt the gut-punch. There are dangerous people in every city; some horrors are unforeseeable and not necessarily the mayor’s fault. Even so, two things pushed me to speak: the deflections and misdirected empathy aimed past the victim toward the “unhoused,” and the follow-up line “thinking hard about what safety really looks like.”
In moments like this, Christians don’t have to take a back seat and feel hesitant to speak up. In fact, the city and its leaders need our perspective:
We can grieve without assigning group guilt.
We can honor every person’s dignity without pretending repeated violence is a misunderstanding.
We can reject the lies that clear speech is cruelty and enforcing laws is bigotry.
And most of all, we don’t have to be manipulated by a toxic misplaced empathy that asks us to relabel inaction as compassion.
What happened:
CATS’ surveillance video shows Iryna boarding late one night around 9:45 p.m. (it looks like she came straight from work). A few minutes later, the video shows a man who had been sitting behind her the whole time calmly unfold a knife what looks to be a pocket knife, stand up, and begin stabbing her in the neck. He leaves the train several minutes later. It appears at that point bystanders rushed to administer aid. She was pronounced dead on the train. She was a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on her way home from work.
What the Mayor said:
Before the video was public:
“We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health. … I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused. … Those who are unhoused are more frequently the victim of crimes and not the perpetrators.”
After the video and the public outcry:
“The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public. I want to thank our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family.
This was a senseless and tragic loss. My prayers remain with her loved ones as they continue to grieve through an unimaginable time.
Like so many of you, I’m heartbroken — and I’ve been thinking hard about what safety really looks like in our city. I remain committed to doing all we can to protect our residents and ensure Charlotte is a place where everyone feels safe.”
“Thinking hard” isn’t leadership language in a moment like this. It’s passive when clarity is required: justice for the victim and concrete action against violent crime.
Speaking with clarity:
1) The record.
The accused has a long arrest history, including robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault on a female, breaking and entering, and larceny. He reportedly served nearly 8.5 years in prison and was released in 2020. Earlier this year he was arrested for misusing 911 while expressing obvious delusions; a competency evaluation was later ordered but not completed, and he remained free. In light of this most recent violent action, he is now being held without bond and has been ordered to undergo an evaluation. Whatever we believe about mental illness, a person too unstable and violent to be safe shouldn’t be on the light rail—and certainly not out pending court ordered evaluation.
2) The framing.
The early official message focused on not “demonizing” the unhoused and insisting that we can’t “arrest our way out” of homelessness and mental illness. In isolation, those are meant to be calming sentiments. In context (hours after a young woman’s throat was cut on a public train) they functioned as virtue signals that shifted attention away from Iryna and deflected calls for accountability. “I guess, if I speak out and call for justice I am harming this group that is actually the real victim” — the logic goes. This is wrong. The statements should have centered the victim and a plan of action.
3) When empathy becomes permissiveness.
Over the last decade we’ve taught ourselves (with the help of the mass media) that enforcing the laws we already enacted is “unkind” or somehow “criminalizing poverty.” Unfortunately, that hesitation very quickly turns into a de facto policy: Charlotte runs an open system without turnstiles; inspections have been relatively rare; and our proof-of-payment fine is sat near the low end nationally (often $50 with a comically low number of tickets handed out per year). Other systems use higher or escalating penalties—$75, $106, $180, $250—specifically to deter chronic evasion. The point isn’t to be punitive, it’s to be clear and consistent. When we confuse compassion with permissiveness, rule-following riders feel (and are) less safe.
Two things at once.
As Christians and as neighbors, we can seek justice while honoring the dignity of every person involved. We can avoid blanket contempt for the homeless and also reject the shaming of citizens who want safe trains, completed mental health evaluations for repeat criminals before release, and predictable consequences for violence.
Being a kind or compassionate Christian never requires tolerance for violent criminals or law-breaking. Nor does it permit group condemnation because of one evil person. Both can be true.
What accountability should look like:
Victim-first leadership. Name Iryna Zarutska. Center her family. Say plainly the steps our government plans to take keep riders safe now, not someday.
Custody and care. When the risks are high, hold the offender while the court-ordered evaluation happens; release only with credible assurances of stability and supervision.
If we have rules, enforce them. The light rail should be paid, policed, and predictable. Do frequent proof-of-payment checks; add platform validators where helpful; publish monthly enforcement stats. If we won’t enforce the laws, then repeal them honestly and own the consequences.
Right-sized penalties with off-ramps. Raise the $50 citation toward national norms or create an escalating schedule with humane off-ramps (reduced fares, classes, community service) for first-time offenders and real consequences for repeat non-payment. If you have concerns about this affecting mobility for the poor then fund a program to specifically meet this need.
Escalating consequences for repeat violent offenders. When a person’s history includes assault, robbery, and weapon possession — public safety should come first. Compassion for potential victims means prevention and intervention in the case of mental health needs.
Iryna fled a war to come here. She should have made been able to make it home from her shift. We can mourn without bitterness, speak plainly without bigotry, and insist on policies that actually protect our neighbors. That is what true compassion and justice require.
Well written and with compassion for the victim a thoughtful direction regarding a solution. This was avoidable.
Very sad. Very true. 😖🙏