*UPDATE* DOJ Slaps Suspect in Iryna Zarutska’s Murder With Federal Charge
“I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi announced she told attorneys to charge DeCarlos Brown Jr., the man accused of murdering Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, NC, on the federal level.
Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.
I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder. We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable crime, and he will never again see the light of day as a free man.
Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.
I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 9, 2025
Brown faces one federal charge: 18 U.S. Code § 1992(a)(7) & (b)(1) Terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system.
Fox News reported that “Brown was previously charged with first-degree murder in state court.”
🚨 BREAKING: Attorney General Pam Bondi has FEDERALLY charged the kiIIer of Iryna Zarutska with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system
This will take it out of the hands of rogue local judges
"I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos… pic.twitter.com/cj2RddxkzE
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 9, 2025
Authorities arrested Brown 14 times since 2007. He faced charges “ranging from assault and firearms possession to felony robbery and larceny.”
Brown should have been in jail instead of the bus with Zarutska.
North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released Brown on cashless bail because he promised to show up for court after he was arrested for misusing the 911 system.
From WSET:
Brown, 34, was arrested January 19 for “misuse of the 911 system.” He had called 911 in the middle of police officers conducting a welfare check on him. During the encounter, Brown, diagnosed with schizophrenia, told officers that he believed there was “man-made” materials inside his body controlling his eating, walking and talking.
“Brown wanted officers to investigate this ‘man-made’ material that was inside of his body,” the affidavit said. “Officers advised Brown that the issue was medical issue and that there was nothing further they could do.”
The officers’ response angered Brown, leading him to call 911 with officers arresting him on the spot. Brown was charged with a Misdemeanor Class 1.
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Comments
We need only a quick perfunctory trial, and then a hanging.
A public hanging that is televised and all three networks must air it.
Deterrence needs to be emphasized.
A good caning during the lead-up would be a nice touch.
I am somewhat of a traditionalist, but I like the mandatory TV airing. However, instead of hanging I would prefer the complete hanging, drawing, and quartering.
Subotai Bahadur
Regretfully, my forecast: Not guilty by reason of insanity.
“I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr.”
But who’s going to prosecute Judge Teresa Stokes?
If you’re going to smash the entire concept of federalism and police powers, at least smash it for the meaningful win.
We need in Jurisprudence a “Business Judgment Rule”, a legal presumption that directors of a corporation, when making a decision, acted in good faith, with reasonable care, and with the belief that the decision was in the best interest of the corporation. ….. However, this protection does not apply to decisions made in bad faith, with self-dealing, conflicts of interest, fraud, or gross negligence.” IMO this Judge would not come close to passing that kind of standard.
Sean Hannity today was saying that if a police officer effs up and someone is killed, he can be held directly responsible. He wanted to know why judges aren’t held to the same standard. Maybe because nobody could heretofore imagine a scenario in which a judge’s failure to act appropriately would result in the death of an innocent person. If anything, American judges have historically had a pronounced “tough on crime” approach. Too many judges have drifted too far from that mentality. In their drifting, instead of stopping at “balance,” they drifted in an entirely different direction, towards “compensation” aimed at making up for past wrongs.
If he broke federal law give me one good reason he should not be prosecuted.
Sure thing.
The Constitution of the United States [has] delegated to the Congress a power to punish treason, counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States, piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and offences against the laws of nations, and no other crimes whatever.
–THOMAS JEFFERSON, THE KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS
America started out with three federal crimes: treason, counterfeiting, and piracy. In 1998, the American Bar Association counted more than 3,300 separate federal criminal offenses on the books, more than 40% of which had been enacted in just the past 30 years… Today, the Congressional Research Service says it no longer can even say how many federal crimes exist. Are we that much more evil than we were 200 years ago that we need this many laws to keep us off each other? Or has the nanny state veered completely out of control?
–REBECCA HAGELIN
Well, as long as every one of us has the boot of the government on our neck with all of these laws, then I say take advantage of it. If it applies to each of us, then it surely applies to this murderer.
Unless the judges plan to make each of theses laws unconstitutional, then we must play the hand we were dealt.
Oh, I agree that we are well past the point where we should be overly delicate about picking up the weapons the retreating enemy has left behind on liberated territory. But once victory is achieved, we should be celebrating with a trip to the Cracks of Doom, not Disneyworld.
So the Supreme Court has determined that the laws in question are unconstitutional and are not covered by the expansions in federal power made multiple times since the time of the founding fathers?
Alright in that case the first judge who sees this will throw it out on account of the law being defunct.
On planet earth federal law does exist, and the racist murderer broke it in multiple ways and is being charged just like anyone else would be.
Silly boy, expecting government referees to call fouls on government legislators who increasingly empower them. The only separation of powers that isn’t corrupt is the basic one of us versus them.
Doing a quick internet search, it appears that 18 USC 3591 allows death penalty for murder committed with aggravating factors, which includes racial bias.
However, if the perp is found mentally ill, all bets are off.
From looking at the videos that have been released showing screen shots from different angles, it appears Iryna is the only white person on the train. Brown was not so mentally ill that he could not differentiate between black and white and pick out the only one who did not belong on the train.
He also later was taped saying “I got that white girl. I got that white girl.”
That doesn’t mean he was not mentally ill, though. His illness could have caused him to see all white people as devils and his duty was to remove them for everyone’s safety. Delving into a skewed mind is a perilous adventure.
I thought we are the devils?/S
I fail to understand why a mentally ill person is not subject to laws that apply to the rest of us; what is done with a dog that attacks people?
If one’s faith calls upon a person to eliminate all who do not follow this same faith, is this mental illness?
“Guilt” has to do with “intent” and knowledge/understanding that one’s actions are at least prohibited by statute, if not inherently wrong. A person whose mental capacity is insufficient or unable to process these factors can’t be “guilty” for lack of intent and/or an understanding of right and wrong.
Someone who is incapable of telling right from wrong to the point they kill is a rabid animal, not a person.
Mental illness needs to be treated as an aggravating factor, not as a mitigating one.
all the more reason to keep them locked up
they wont know that they are locked up b/c they are mentally ill
and they are a danger to society as we (more) sane people know
They are locked up. And not just for a fixed term, but for as long as they continue to be dangerous, even if that’s many times the maximum sentence for the crime. But not in a prison, because they’re not capable of being guilty.
millhouse re: sept 10 2:37 am post
they are ALWAYS a danger b/c they are mentally ill and not cured of it
they are in fact “capable of being guilty” as the leftist narrative has you in its hold but not myself or others with common sense
that you defend is just another lefty construct that allows laws to be made that once again puts the criminals in the driver seat and the good people as passengers
But that’s not an invariant feature of law. One would expect it to be, but it isn’t. For example, if someone baits a field to attract wildlife, and you later hunt there with absolutely no knowledge of that, you’re guilty by law, no arguments. Ironically, this law was passed despite zero constitutional delegation of authority over wildlife preservation, as the result of the president and congress signing an international treaty which then “gave themselves” that delegation of authority. Scary, isn’t it? Since then, there have been other laws passed for which your total lack of intent to break the law is no defense. There are also others where courts have made rulings such as, “the defendant was not required to know that he had been forbidden to own a gun, the law requires only that he knew he owned a gun.” Scary, isn’t it?
Arizona has done that. They got rid of the M’Naughton Rule and have “guilty but mentally ill.” As long as you are in throes of mental illness, it’s a criminally insane asylum. When you get better, it’s regular prison.
I approve.
No plea deals
From what I understand, it’s easier for the prosecution to withstand both an insanity plea and a diminished capacity assertion (usually at sentencing) in federal court than it is in a lot of state courts. The threshold to satisfy an insanity plea is appreciably higher in federal court than it is in most states. If they wanted to argue diminished capacity sentencing (for a departure from minimum sentencing guidelines), that’s something the federal statues don’t allow in violent crimes whereas it is often helpful to the defendant in state court. While it’s still possible he’ll be able to successfully plead insanity, it just got a whole lot more difficult for his defense.
There was a time when someone found guilty but insane would be remanded to a mental institution until such time as he might be adjudged “safe” for release back into society.
Do they still do that?
IANAL. But, as it was explained to me, they don’t do that in a lot of states. Instead, in many states, defendants can be ‘deemed’ incompetent to stand trial. What happens from there varies considerably from state to state with many of these perps being released back onto the street months, even weeks, after their competency hearing.
In the federal system, if a defendant is deemed incompetent to stand trial, they’re remanded to the custody of the Attorney General. If they can be treated to restore competency, that is done and THEN they’re tried. If that’s not possible (for reasons), they’re generally committed more permanently. If they’re found not guilty by reason of insanity, because of a law passed after Reagan was shot, it’s far more certain they spend a very long time in a psychiatric prison if the crime was serious. The two biggest reason there’s a huge disparity between feds/states is Congress has written MUCH tougher statutory guidelines (which give judges little flexibility) than many states have and MONEY. States simply don’t invest in criminal psychiatric bed capacity. So, they adopt procedures to rid themselves of the expense…by releasing the crazy perps.
doing the job the woke wont do
thank you djt!!
lefty:
“hes insane”
he must be put on the streets
when will the gop put a stop to the leftys insanity that rules the usa??!
no piece fo criminals especially when under 18 with the bs of
how can they be rehabilitated if people know who they are?
pure bs!
and they just proved it again by working with the msm to not publish yet another blk on wht hate crime with pics videos or even mentioning the crime!!!
correction:
no pics of criminals allowed
Insane is not mentally ill. There are a large number of people with mental illness of some type who are being treated with medication and are non violent. I would not conflate the two. For example bulimia is a mental illness but is not violent.
then we are not talking about non violent then are we?
no we are not
Sadly this is probably the ONLY way to ensure justice is delivered.
Sayeth the Queen of Hearts: “Sentence first—verdict afterwards”
good thing blks cant be racist per the msm /schools etc etc
After the attack, the surveillance video plays audio of someone saying ‘… got that white girl’.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-15081607/Iryna-Zarutska-Ukranian-stabbing-Decarlos-Brown-new-video-train-North-Carolina.html
Not surprised. Watching the video I surmised he was steaming because one of the whitest persons he had ever seen had sat down in front of him, and after a little rumination he had worked himself up to killing her. There was little doubt to me that that’s exactly why he killed the victim. Just rage against white people taken out against someone who happened to be the epitome of whiteness.
Today he claims he killed her because she was “reading his mind,” using that chip The Man had installed in his body at a previous time.
Why bail them out. Put the entire North Carolina justice system on display.
the homeless/mentally ill :
public streets
public libraires
public transportation
public parks
just not in front of lefty politicians homes
its all yours b/c woke pd and city councils are somehow in charge
rigged elections have consequences
Illegals who commit felonies sho you led be prosecuted by federal courts.
Like a lot of people, I felt extreme rage at this senseless murder. Moreover, my rage casts a wide net to include the MSM, virtually all Democrats, and their Republican enablers citing only a few of the many.
I came across some coverage, which I can’t find again (it might have been deleted) that said there was audio recorded where Brown was bragging that he killed a white woman. This evidence will eventually come out as part of a hate crime prosecution. One can hope. This aspect of the crime opens up a whole can of worms about the nature of negro violence, and why so many white women get attacked. One of the most comprehensive and scholarly treatments on this subject appeared in the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica which went online about 15 years ago. The Britannica started out as an extremely scholarly work with entries from giants in the various fields. Around 1900 an American firm acquired Britannica and dumbed it down to increase appeal to American readers. The 11th edition (1911) was the last great edition. If you download and go to the “negro” entry you will find a treatment that could not appear today. Indeed the author would be in prison today in Britain.
Lots of dead black women in all the shootings.
No federal “Hate Crime” charges though.
The victim was not a “protected minority”.
That statute seems to be in clear violation of the 14th Amendment.
Should be a generic “bias crime” statute that applies equally regardless of the identity group of the victim that was targeted because of their identity group.
Oddly, NY City is one of the few jurisdictions that got this right.
There’s no such thing as a “protected minority”.
Hate crimes are crimes motivated by bias on certain grounds, e.g. race, but it makes no difference which race.
There’s no such thing as a “protected minority”.
Your so cute.
What is interesting is that few are commenting on why this entire thing was buried for several weeks. There was a primary election for Mayor in Charlotte yesterday that Vi won. Obviously she wanted the murder buried until either after the election or until it was so close to it that it would not be a factor.
Well, great! Now maybe Charlotte can vote in a Republican mayor instead of “a different Democrat.”
Urban societies can become unstable and self-destructive under certain circumstances, and these conditions appear to be occurring more often nowadays. All viable communities must provide some degree of access to resources, including protection from predators. Once that breaks down, humans tend to migrate elsewhere, which is happening in numerous blue enclaves.
At what point do we also go after the judges who allow a repeat offender back on the streets time after time?
This guy is not getting the death penalty. (He should)
In past cases he’s been determined to be mentally ill with schizophrenia. That will be what saves him. He’ll get life in prison, probably, but the death penalty? I’d be beyond shocked if they pulled it off and he got it.