Trump’s gut-wrenching reaction to seeing Ukrainian refugee murder video – as he slams liberal media for ignoring it

Donald Trump said that Democrats have blood on their hands after watching the video of the career criminal that went on to stab a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina.

The president took to Truth Social, posting a photo of Iryna Zarutska next to one of Decarlos Brown Jr. and going after Democrat policies and politicians that made her slaughter possible. 

‘I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee, who came to America to escape the vicious War in Ukraine, and was innocently riding the Metro in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic,’ Trump wrote.

He then turned to Brown Jr.: ‘The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES. What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP.’

Trump then inserted the murder into the 2026 Senate race between Democrat former North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper and ex-RNC co-chairman Michael Whatley. 

‘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. North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it!’ 

He also wondered why the story had been ignored by the left-leaning press.  

‘Additionally, where is the outrage from the Mainstream Media on this horrible tragedy? VOTE FOR MICHAEL WHATLEY FOR UNITED STATES SENATE, HE WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!’

The Daily Mail has reached out to Governor Cooper’s campaign for comment. 

Cooper was a two-term Democrat who ran the purple state from 2017 to 2025, winning North Carolina in years where both Donald Trump and Joe Biden won presidential elections.

His ex-Attorney General, Josh Stein, continued the Democrats’ winning streak in the governor’s mansion, winning despite Trump taking back the White House in 2024. 

Cooper faces Whatley, who was co-chair of the RNC alongside Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara, during the successful 2024 presidential campaign.  

Brown, 34, allegedly stabbed Zarutska to death at South End light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22. 

He was arrested soon after and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Brown was then charged with first-degree murder on his release. 

Zarutska had only recently arrived in the US ‘seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning’, her family said on a GoFundMe page. 

The North Carolina judge who released him has been slammed for allowing him to be out on the streets.

Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes freed Decarlos Brown Jr. in January – around seven months before police say he went on to slaughter Iryna Zarutska on August 22. 

Stokes allowed Brown, 34, who is homeless and has a litany of previous arrests – including for armed robbery and assault – to walk free on a ‘written promise’ that he would return for his next court appearance. 

Brown was arrested on January 19 for alleged ‘misuse of the 911 system’, after he dialed the emergency number while police were conducting a welfare check on him. 

During the ordeal, Brown, who is schizophrenic, told police he thought that ‘man made’ materials were inside his body controlling his movements. 

‘Brown wanted officers to investigate this “man-made” material that was inside of his body,’ the arrest affidavit reads.

‘Officers advised Brown that the issue was medical issue and that there was nothing further they could do.’ 

This response sent Brown into a rage, and he called 911. Officers arrested him and charged him with a misdemeanor. 

Even Brown’s mother said the court system failed the community by allowing him to roam free despite his serious mental health issues, according to Newsweek. 

She said he was placed under psychiatric monitoring for two weeks after she secured an involuntary commitment order when he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2014. 

The desperate mother said that he became so aggressive that she had to kick him out of her home.  

Brown’s lengthy history of run-ins with the law also includes assaulting his sister in 2021, leaving her with minor injuries, and armed robbery in 2014.

Despite these crimes, and Brown being a potential flight risk because he was not fixed to any set address, Stokes released him during his court hearing about the 911 call. 

A document outlining the condition of his release seen by the Daily Mail shows that it was authorized with only a ‘written promise to appear’ at his next court hearing. 

The court memo from Mecklenburg County includes Stokes’ signature, and one of Brown’s many mugshots showing him looking dazed with his eyebrows raised. 

The Daily Mail has contacted Stokes for comment. 

Brown’s previous crimes saw him serve five years in prison for a 2014 armed robbery and was released in September, 2020.

Just months after his release from prison, on February, 2021, Brown was arrested for assaulting his sister in Charlotte and leaving her with minor injuries, according to police records obtained by the Daily Mail. It’s unclear whether he was convicted.

That same month, he was also arrested for injury to personal property and trespassing. 

A police report from that incident said Brown ‘returned to the address after being told he was not allowed back and kicked and damaged the front door of the listed victim’s residence.’

In July 2022, Brown was then arrested again for a domestic disturbance. It’s unclear whether he was convicted. 

‘[Brown] was arrested for disorderly conduct. The suspect was yelling and cursing, causing a disturbance and drawing the attention of multiple tenants while on the property the call for service was located,’ read the police report.

Brown’s arrest records go as back as 2007, when he was still a minor.

Over the next seven years, he was arrested at least six times for crimes including felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats.

According to the Charlotte Observer, most of the charges he faced during that time were dropped.

When reached for comment, the Mecklenburg District Attorney’s Office told the Daily Mail Tuesday it cannot speak about defendants with pending cases.  

‘In broad terms, it remains the position of the District Attorney’s office that those who commit violent crimes should be held in custody pending trial,’ the DA’s office said.