{"id":2484065,"date":"2025-09-09T10:41:02","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:41:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/duffy-threatens-to-revoke-funding-from-charlotte-after-train-stabbing\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T10:43:32","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T14:43:32","slug":"duffy-threatens-to-revoke-funding-from-charlotte-after-train-stabbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/duffy-threatens-to-revoke-funding-from-charlotte-after-train-stabbing\/","title":{"rendered":"Duffy threatens to revoke funding from Charlotte after train stabbing"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fduffy-threatens-to-revoke-funding-from-charlotte-after-train-stabbing%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2484065&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has threatened to revoke federal funding from Charlotte, North Carolina, following the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on the city&#8217;s transit system. Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, was attacked by Decarlos brown Jr., a repeat offender with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nypd-times-square-shooting-suspect-has-lengthy-criminal-history\/\" title=\"NYPD: Times Square shooting suspect has lengthy criminal history\">lengthy criminal history<\/a> who was out on cashless bail. the stabbing occurred on August 22, and surveillance footage of the incident recently went viral, drawing national attention.<\/p>\n<p>Duffy criticized Charlotte&#8217;s leadership for failing to keep public transportation safe and announced that the Department of Transportation would investigate the city&#8217;s handling of the situation and other high-crime areas nationwide. He suggested that federal transit funds might be withheld if the investigation finds negligence. The city&#8217;s 2026 budget included over $38 million in federal grants for its transit system.<\/p>\n<p>President Donald Trump also condemned the killing, blaming North Carolina&#8217;s former Democratic governance for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/op-ed-swap-president-for-king-in-declaration-of-independence-and-1-thing-immediately-becomes-clear\/\" title=\"Op-Ed: Replace &#039;President&#039; with &#039;King&#039; in Declaration of Independence, and Clarity Emerges.\">lenient crime policies<\/a> that allowed the suspect to remain free. Trump called on voters to support a GOP Senate candidate promising tougher crime measures.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Charlotte&#8217;s mayor, Vi Lyles, urged restraint in sharing graphic video footage out of respect for the victim&#8217;s family, a stance that sparked criticism from Duffy and conservative commentators accusing city officials of responsibility for the tragedy. FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the bureau has been investigating the case since day one and promised further updates. <br \/> <!DOCTYPE html><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Duffy threatens to revoke federal funding from Charlotte after fatal train stabbing<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_2225071\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Transportation Secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/sean-duffy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sean Duffy<\/a> on Monday threatened to revoke federal funding from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/charlotte\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Charlotte<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/north-carolina\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">North Carolina<\/a>, after a young woman died in a stabbing on the city&rsquo;s transit system.<\/p>\n<p>Duffy was the latest administration official to speak on the murder of Iryna Zarutska, 23. Although she died last month, surveillance footage of the fatal incident went viral on social media over the weekend.<\/p>\n<div class=\"recommended-stories\">\n<h2>Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/justice\/3798367\/new-york-court-strikes-down-eric-adams-plan-ice-rikers-island-prison\/\">New York court strikes down Adams plan to bring ICE into Rikers<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3798222\/patel-fbi-investigating-charlotte-train-stabbing-day-one\/\">Patel says FBI has been investigating Charlotte train stabbing &#8216;from day one&#8217;<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3797846\/minneapolis-city-council-litigate-property-owner-homeless-encampment\/\">Minneapolis City Council ready to litigate against property owner who won&#8217;t clear homeless encampment<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;If mayors can&rsquo;t keep their trains and buses safe, they don&rsquo;t deserve the taxpayers&rsquo; money,&rdquo; Duffy announced on X. The Department of Transportation &ldquo;will be investigating Charlotte over its failure to protect Iryna Zarutska. And we will also be looking at other crime ridden cities across the country.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I stand firm with President Trump&rsquo;s message of zero tolerance for criminality, especially on our federal DOT funded public transportation. <\/p>\n<p>If mayors can&rsquo;t keep their trains and buses safe, they don&rsquo;t deserve the <br \/>taxpayers&rsquo; money.<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/USDOT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@USDOT<\/a> will be investigating Charlotte over&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/S5xmooTlF5\">https:\/\/t.co\/S5xmooTlF5<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Secretary Sean Duffy (@SecDuffy) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SecDuffy\/status\/1965218625712804279?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 9, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script> <\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Duffy also spoke about actions his department is willing to take on Fox News&rsquo;s weeknight show <em>Hannity<\/em>, such as the possibility of withholding federal transit funding from Charlotte.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Maybe it&rsquo;s appropriate that we start pulling some of that money back because I don&rsquo;t think the American taxpayer wants to pay for the homelessness and criminal elements that harm little 23-year-old girls like this,&rdquo; the Cabinet secretary <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EricLDaugh\/status\/1965224888941097395\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told<\/a> Fox News host Sean Hannity. &ldquo;And liberals want to hide that story, so you and I don&rsquo;t talk about it.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Duffy <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecDuffy\/status\/1965237250259910993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1965237250259910993%7Ctwgr%5Ea56602d9bee86c52410b75b20b8fee006ebd893a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.charlotteobserver.com%2Fnews%2Flocal%2Farticle312029774.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> the Department of Transportation&rsquo;s investigation begins Tuesday, noting he couldn&rsquo;t broadly pull Charlotte&rsquo;s federal funding without an investigation.<\/p>\n<p>The city&rsquo;s fiscal 2026 budget includes $38.29 million in federal grants allocated to the Charlotte Area Transit System, a 40.6% increase from the previous fiscal year. It&rsquo;s unclear how much federal funding will be pulled at this time, but Duffy said he anticipates all of it is on the table &ldquo;if I find what I think I&rsquo;m going to find.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Around 10 p.m. on Aug. 22, Zarutska was stabbed in the neck three times by a violent repeat offender released on cashless bail over a dozen times. She was taking the train back home from her job at a pizzeria. Zarutska was a Ukrainian refugee who fled her native country after Russia&rsquo;s invasion in 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., has an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nyc-judge-frees-career-criminal-indicted-on-murder-charge-without-bail\/\" title=\"NYC Judge Frees Career Criminal Indicted on Murder Charge Without Bail\">extensive criminal history dating back<\/a> to 2014. His <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >past crimes include armed robbery<\/a>, felony larceny, breaking and entering, and shoplifting, according to jail records. For his latest crime, Brown is being charged with first-degree murder and is being held in jail without bond. He is next due to appear in court on Sept. 19.<\/p>\n<p>The Trump administration began denouncing Zarutska&rsquo;s murderer on Monday, with President <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/donald-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Donald Trump<\/a> himself talking about the issue in a speech and on social media. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/@realDonaldTrump\/posts\/115170494005487289\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Truth Social post<\/a>, he blamed her death on North Carolina&rsquo;s soft-on-crime policies overseen by former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-white-house-was-involved-with-doj-probe-into-classified-trump-documents-memos-reveal\/\" title=\"Biden White House Was Involved With DOJ Probe Into Classified ... Documents, Memos Reveal\">left office earlier<\/a> this year.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What the hell was [Brown] doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP,&rdquo; Trump said. &ldquo;The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer&rsquo;s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and &lsquo;Wannabe Senator&rsquo; Roy Cooper.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The president then called on North Carolina voters to support 2026 Senate contender Michael Whatley, who Trump said &ldquo;won&rsquo;t let this happen again&rdquo; in the state.<\/p>\n<p>While Zarutska&rsquo;s preventable death only came to the attention of the masses a few days ago, FBI Director Kash Patel <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3798222\/patel-fbi-investigating-charlotte-train-stabbing-day-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> the bureau has been investigating the Charlotte train stabbing since &ldquo;day one.&rdquo; He noted that updates in the case will be forthcoming.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/crime\/3796856\/what-to-know-charlotte-light-rail-stabbing-iryna-zarutska\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT FATAL STABBING OF UKRAINIAN REFUGEE ON CHARLOTTE&rsquo;S LIGHT RAIL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles took a less aggressive posture than the Trump administration. She <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/CLTMayor\/status\/1964305729378275588\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> it wasn&rsquo;t appropriate for the media and public to share the video of the events preceding and following Zarutska&rsquo;s death &ldquo;out of respect&rdquo; for her family, to whom the mayor offered her condolences. Her comments sparked outrage from right-wing commentators and Duffy, who suggested Lyles is responsible for the city&rsquo;s policies allowing Brown to commit another crime.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Charlotte&rsquo;s Mayor doesn&rsquo;t want the media to show you the ugly truth. Why? Because she and other public officials in her city bear responsibility,&rdquo; Duffy <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/SecDuffy\/status\/1964720917205938266\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. &ldquo;By failing to properly punish him, Charlotte failed Iryna Zarutska and North Carolinians.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Duffy warns of cutting Charlotte transit funds after fatal stabbing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2159,"featured_media":2484066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25239552884364.jpg?w=696","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[20464,45442,6513,62898],"class_list":["post-2484065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-charlotte","tag-duffy","tag-funding","tag-train-stabbing"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/AP25239552884364.jpg?w=696","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2159"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2484065"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2484073,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2484065\/revisions\/2484073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2484066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2484065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2484065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2484065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}