GoFundMe has taken down several fundraising efforts that sought to raise money for the man who brutally murdered Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail last month.
The GoFundMe pages argued that Decarlos Brown Jr. is also a victim, claiming that he was not "entirely to blame for what happened."
While what happened on the Blue Line was a tragedy, what we mustn’t lose sight of is the fact that Decarlos Brown Jr. was failed categorically by the judicial system and the mental health services of North Carolina, and as such is not entirely to blame for what happened. As it is so, we endeavour to raise funds for his legal defense and hope to avoid punitive sentencing and to also get him the aid he requires.
There is a @gofundme for Decarlos Brown. You can’t make this up. He murdered in cold blood and yet his supporters want you to think he was “failed” by the system.
— Dissident Media (@DissidentMedia) September 7, 2025
Instead, he did exactly what the system wants him to do. pic.twitter.com/oHLfYRBBrb
“Raising money to assist with legal fees for Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. Anything helps fight against the racism and bias against our people. Thank you for giving us a hand to push against this corrupt narrative,” another fundraiser read.
GoFundMe immediately moved to take down those pages as screenshots spread across social media, according to the NY Post.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with an alleged violent crime,” GoFundMe said in a statement. “Consistent with this long-standing policy, this fundraiser has been removed from the platform and the donors who contributed to the fundraiser have been fully refunded.”
Longstanding mental health issues do not justify avoiding punishment. Now is not the time to be concerned about Brown's mental health; now is the time to mourn the loss of a Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, who finally had her shot at the American Dream, but had her life taken from her. Now is the time to give support to her family, her loved ones, and remember who she was to those around her. If they truly cared about mental health, they wouldn’t have waited until another tragedy to make their voices heard.