FBI Director Kash Patel said the FBI has been investigating the murder of Iryna Zarutka “from day one.”
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zaruska was murdered in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month, but her fatal stabbing came to widespread attention on Friday after the Charlotte Area Transit System released footage of the attack. After right-wing commentators decried a perceived lack of attention to the matter, Patel said on Monday that the FBI had been investigating the matter from the start.
“The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one,” Patel said. “Stay tuned.”
The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one.
Stay tuned.
— FBI Director Kash Patel (@FBIDirectorKash) September 9, 2025
Patel didn’t immediately provide any details, but the investigation may be related to the judges who released Zarutka’s murderer, Decarlos Brown Jr., a schizophrenic homeless man who had been arrested and released 14 previous times.
Zarutka’s murder came to Trump’s attention after he was asked about the matter by a reporter on Sunday night. He commemorated her in a speech on Monday, when he sent his “love and hope” to Zarutska’s family.
“A lunatic just got up and started — it’s right on the tape, not really watchable because it’s so horrible — but just viciously stabs her. She’s just sitting there. So they’re evil people. We have to be able to handle that. If we don’t handle that, we don’t have a country,” he said.
Trump went further later that day on Truth Social, blaming her death on former Democratic North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper’s crime policies.
“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,” he added.
The chilling footage immediately preceding and proceeding Zarutka’s murder set off a firestorm on social media.
The surveillance footage showed Zarutska, who fled Ukraine in 2022, sitting on the metro in front of Brown, who took out a pocket knife and stabbed Zarutska multiple times, killing her. He then paced around the metro car with her blood dripping off his knife.
TRUMP PINS BLAME FOR MURDER OF IRYNA ZARUSKA ON SOFT CRIME POLICIES
Brown had an extensive criminal history dating back to 2014, including an armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, for which he spent eight years in jail. Before he murdered Zarutska, he had been arrested and released at least 14 times and was also diagnosed with schizophrenia.
He was released last time, in January, after giving a written promise that he would return for his court date, according to court documents reviewed by the National News Desk.
