A mural honoring slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska is “divisive,” according to Providence Mayor Brett Smiley. The club where the mural is being installed followed suit and said it will remove the depiction of the murder victim.
The painting, on the side of an LGBT club called “The Dark Lady,” depicts Zarutska, a victim of a fatal knife stabbing on a Charlotte, North Carolina train in August 2025. The Department of Justice charged Decarlos Dejuan Brown, Jr. with the brutal murder of the twenty-three year old.
Smiley, the mayor of the Rhode Island city, said he opposes the mural’s completion.
“The murder of the individual depicted in this mural was a devastating tragedy, but the misguided, isolating intent of those funding murals like the one across the county is divisive and does not represent Providence,” the mayor’s office told a local reporter. “I continue to encourage our community to support local artists whose work brings us closer together rather than divide us.”
Elon Musk funded a nonprofit that paid for this painting as well as similar murals of Zarutska across the country.
Smiley does not have a general issue with using taxpayer dollars to push a controversial political agenda. Last year, the mayor, who is gay, boasted about flying the LGBT pride flag at city hall.
“We raised the PRIDE flag at City Hall today to mark the start of PRIDE Month in Providence, a time to recognize the LGBTQIA+ community and reaffirm our city’s commitment to equality,” he wrote on X.
The Democrat’s critical remarks of the mural have drawn condemnation.
“Not sure what is divisive about a mural honoring a woman stabbed to death by a career criminal,” Fox News correspondent Brooke Taylor asked on X.
“Empathy’s gatekeepers have decided this is the wrong sort of victim to honor,” Guy Benson said.
However, Smiley has allies in the city who agree with his position.
Mayoral candidate David Morales, who is running against Smiler, claimed that the mural has become part of a “right-wing movement” to spread “division” about the safety of “certain cities.”
[Featured image from NBC 10 WJAR video]
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY