Brutal murder in Charlotte becomes national flashpoint

For decades now, leading American conservatives have accused the political left of being soft on crime. This charge against the political left in the United States has been persistent and, in many elections, determinative of the outcome. There is one central reason that the accusation has such traction. The accusation is true. The political left is soft on crime, and it’s not a bug in their system. It’s a feature.

The brutal murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte, N.C.’s light rail system raises the issue all over again, and understandably so. The young woman had left Ukraine to come to the United States in order to escape the violence of war. Tragically, she met deadly violence on a commuter train in an American city. The murder took place on Aug. 22, but the story broke into national headlines just in recent days.

The sudden attention can be traced to the release of security footage showing the young woman sit on the train, only to be savagely attacked without any provocation at all by the man sitting behind her. The shock and fear in her eyes are horrible to witness. The brutality of the murder is shocking to our eyes. The images tell a truth we cannot miss. This was an unprovoked murder undertaken and recorded on video.

Charlotte police quickly arrested Decarlos Brown, Jr. and charged him with first-degree murder. Authorities also acknowledged that Brown had a lengthy arrest record, including arrests for robbery with a dangerous weapon, threatening behavior, larceny, and other crimes. He served a prison term for one of the crimes, followed by a year of observation. More recently, he had been arrested, but released with “cashless bail,” a policy pushed by liberal activists. He had a very long list of encounters with police, who knew him to be a deeply troubled offender with a prison record. But he was left on the streets, and now we all know where that led.

Why wasn’t he in some form of custody or supervision? Over and over again we ask government leaders and law enforcement the same question: If you knew he was dangerous, why didn’t you do anything to protect the public?

We need to face the fact that American conservatives and liberals see the same crimes but not the same realities. When conservatives look at violent crime, they see a moral issue. When liberals look at the same crimes and statistics, they see a sociological issue. The natural response of conservatives is to demand that government protect innocent citizens from criminals and punish criminals in accordance with their crimes. The natural reflex of liberals is to demand that systemic problems be addressed, public funding be increased, and personal autonomy be respected. The vast majority of conservatives understand that social dynamics are part of the picture, but they insist that the primary issues are moral. The vast majority of liberals believe that at least some people belong behind bars, but they insist that the big issues are structural and systemic and they downplay personal responsibility.

At an even more basic level, conservatives and liberals see human nature in different terms. Conservatives generally understand human nature in terms of a vision basically compatible with the Bible and its understanding of human sin and human nature. Liberals, virtually from the beginning of modern liberalism, have possessed a more optimistic vision of human nature. Conservatives generally see evil emerging from the sinful human heart and evil intent. The basic problem is internal. Liberals are more prone to see the problem as external, explained by sociological realities and structural inequities in society.

This week, the New York Times ran a news story that declared: “A Gruesome Murder in North Carolina Ignites a Firestorm on the Right.” The Times seems to believe that the big story is outrage on the right after the release of the security camera video of the crime. Isn’t the bigger story the lack of outrage on the left?

After the crime was reported, Charlotte’s Democratic mayor, Vi Lyles, offered words of sympathy for the victim and condolences to her family. But, more recently, Mayor Lyles called for public understanding for Decarlos Brown—the man arrested for Iryna Zarutska’s murder (and seen murdering her in the security video). She attempted to place blame on the larger society, arguing that the brutal murder and arrest “should force us to look at what we are doing across our community to address root causes.” The mayor also said “we will never arrest our way out [of] issues such as homelessness and mental health” and she exhorted citizens to avoid “villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused.”

Charlotte, N.C., Mayor Vi Lyles Associated Press / Photo by Nell Redmond

The Trump administration joined the debate and accused Democrats of being soft on crime: “It’s the culmination of North Carolina’s Democrat politicians, prosecutors, and judges prioritizing woke agendas that fail to protect their citizens when they need them most,” according to a statement released by the White House.

Wouldn’t you think that liberals would at least reconsider their position in light of such a brutal and unprovoked murder? Wouldn’t you think they would agree that Decarlos Brown shouldn’t have been free on the streets? Wouldn’t this prompt a more fundamental rethinking of crime and punishment among liberals? Don’t hold your breath. It’s almost like they want to help write Republican ads for the next election.

Meanwhile, some on the right seem tempted to point to the fact that Decarlos Brown is black in order to score political points about race. Wouldn’t you think they would have the sense to see this brutal crime—and the liberal response—as an opportunity to make clear that conservatives will not make this case about race, but about sin and evil, crime and punishment?

Frankly, the smart conservative play is to let the liberals speak their minds and reveal their toxic ideas—and make sure they are recorded for future use. Closer to home, the smart play is for conservatives to avoid saying stupid stuff, take the high road, and underline the issues of right and wrong, crime and punishment—not race. Remember that our words are going to be recorded, too.