Overview

The Decarlos Brown Iryna Zarutska Stabbing refers to the unprovoked fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, allegedly by 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The incident happened on August 22nd, 2025, and received widespread media coverage over the following weeks. In early September, the crime received increased attention on social media as a security camera recording of the stabbing spread online. As the video and story spread, some people began spreading a conspiracy theory that the "liberal run" media was not covering the story enough, with some suggesting the lack of coverage was intentional because Decarlos is Black and the media does not want to draw attention to a story about a Black man committing a violent crime. Purportedly, Brown has a long criminal and mental illness history. In early September 2025, claims that a GoFundMe page was set up to support "injustice against Brown" went viral online, although the authenticity of the page was not confirmed, and it is no longer available. As the controversy and crime garnered increased attention, notable figures such as U.S. President Donald Trump and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk weighed in on the murder, leading to further viral discourse online.

Background

On August 22nd, 2025, WBTV^[1] reported on the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska at Lynx Station in Charlotte, North Carolina. According to the report, Zarutska was pronounced dead on the scene. Brown was transported to the hospital, with plans to arrest him after he was treated.

Developments

On August 26th, 2025, the Daily Mail^[2] published an investigative piece on the stabbing. The piece claims that Zarutska was a Ukrainian refugee who left Ukraine to flee the war with Russia. It also reports that Brown is homeless and has an extensive criminal past, including crimes like "felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats." In the past, he was reportedly arrested for five years for armed robbery and, in 2021, was arrested for assaulting his sister.

On August 29th, CharlotteNC^[3] reported that Brown was transferred from the hospital to the Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office to serve a first-degree murder sentence. That day, the WCNC YouTube^[4] channel uploaded a news report about Brown's court appearance that morning. In the clip, it is reported that Brown would stay in jail for the incident.

Security Camera Footage

On September 5th, 2025, the WBTV News Charlotte YouTube^[5] channel released surveillance footage of the day of the stabbing, garnering over 525,000 views in three days.

In the footage, Zarutska is seen getting on the train and sitting in the seat in front of Brown. Brown is seen sitting with his head against the window, then opening a pocket knife and standing to stab her. The stabbing itself has been edited out of the video. The clip then shows Brown wandering up and down the train with blood dripping on the floor as other passengers react to the scene.

Online Reactions

The stabbing received significant attention on social media in early September 2025. On September 6th, 2025, X^[6] user @realMaalouf made a post sharing Brown's mugshot and a screenshot of the stabbing video, writing, "Should Decarlos Brown Jr. receive the death penalty?" garnering over 320,000 likes in two days.

Later that day, X^[7] user @JohnLeFevre posted a screenshot from the video, writing, "Don't be afraid to stereotype. I'd rather be called racist and keep my life than roll the dice… It was 84 degrees in Charlotte, NC on the night of the murder. Young, black men (especially in weather inappropriate clothes) commit vastly more crime. If you see someone like this, do not turn your back to them," garnering over 6,000 likes in the same span of time.

On September 7th, 2025, X^[8] user @andrewilliamsus posted a meme made of the image of Brown about to stab Zarutska, labelling Zarutska "I don't see race" and Brown "Race seeing you," garnering over 1,100 likes in a day.

That day, Redditor u/1Rab posted a Political Compass meme about the incident to the /r/PoliticalCompassMemes^[9] subreddit, garnering over 3,500 upvotes in a day.

That same day, claims that a GoFundMe page was set up to support Decarlos Brown started spreading online, alongside a screenshot of the purported page. The page is no longer available, and its authenticity is unconfirmed. Some people spread theories that it was a scam or troll.

Also on September 7th, 2025, X^[10] user @EscanorReloaded made a post hypothesizing that the page was made by another criminal, Ryan Nicholas Wrangham, although this is again unconfirmed, with commenters noting that it seems unlikely that the person who set up the GoFundMe would use their mugshot as the profile picture for their GoFundMe account.

Between September 6th and 8th, Elon Musk reposted and quote-tweeted numerous X / Twitter posts related to the killing of Iryna Zarutska on the platform. For instance, on September 7th, Musk quote-tweeted a post from @EndWokeness claiming to show results on AP's site for "George Floyd" vs. "Iryna Zarutska," receiving over 45 million views, 294,000 likes, 45,000 retweets and 8,100 replies in 23 hours.^[12]

On September 8th, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump commented on the story during a press interview, stating he would confront the "evil people" involved in the stabbing, adding, "We're all people of religion, but there are evil people. And we have to confront that. I just give my love and hope to the family of the young woman who was stabbed this morning or last night in Charlotte by a madman."^[11]

Search Interest

External References