The August 22 murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte, NC, light rail train has dominated social media. The video of the attack, in which 34-year-old career criminal DeCarlos Brown, Jr. stabbed Zarutska as she sat in front of him, has horrified the vast majority of Americans.
Brown had at least 13 prior arrests, but was repeatedly released from custody under the myriad "criminal justice reform" policies pushed by the Democratic Party.
It appears some Democrats have no intention of changing their views on crime any time soon. British outlet the Daily Mail published an exclusive interview with Democratic Rep. Alma Adams, who represents the Charlotte area in Congress, doubled down on not jailing violent criminals like Brown.
Rep. Alma Adams, who represents Charlotte in Congress, has reacted to Iryna Zarutska’s murder by saying this:
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) September 10, 2025
“You can’t solve everything by putting people in jail. We can’t nail our way out of the situations that are going on.” pic.twitter.com/ulnqIDULFg
Horrific videos of he incident show the woman sitting down on a light rail car on her commute before Brown begins ruthlessly stabbing her and begins pacing up and down the train. Blood can be seen dripping from the man's knife as he walks.
Brown was known to local authorities and had already been arrested 14 times before he randomly attacked the Ukrainian woman who fled from her country amid its ongoing war.
'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,' Trump said of the incident. 'What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be locked up.'
But Rep. Alma Adams, D-N.C., says Trump is wrong and rejected the president's calls for stricter criminal detention for violent repeat offenders.
'You can't solve everything by putting people in jail,' she told the Daily Mail in an exclusive interview when pressed on Trump's cashless bail claim. 'We can't jail our way out of some of the situations that are going on.'
Multiple studies and crime data show that the majority of violent crimes are committed by a very small percentage of the population, especially those with three or more prior arrests.
Adams insists the problem is mental health and that incarcerating Brown after any of his dozen-plus prior arrests would not have stopped Brown from committing more crimes.
It's clear Adams doesn't understand the issue, because North Carolina approved over $800 million for mental health services in the 2023-2025 budget, including $100 million for previously incarcerated individuals. Adams said she's "researching" mental health funding cuts. When pressed by the Daily Mail about violent crime, Adams said "we have to deal with where people are."
Adams also accused President Trump of politicizing the murder, noting that Zarutska was killed in August, but the President started speaking about it this week. Of course, the video of the attack was only made public in the last few days, much to the dismay of Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who thanked "media partners" who didn't share the footage.