Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles is coming under fire for her woke comments calling for compassion for the deranged vagrant who is accused of viciously murdering a Ukrainian refugee on a train in the city last month.
“This is a tragic situation that sheds light on problems with society safety nets related to mental healthcare and the systems that should be in place,” Lyles wrote in a statement to WSOC-TV reporter Joe Bruno at the time.
The Democrat added that the alleged perpetrator, Decarlos Brown Jr. “appears to have suffered a crisis.”
She claimed that the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) where the savage caught-on-video killing took place is “by and large a safe transit system” — despite the unprovoked stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on her way home from work.
Video shows the madman unfolding a knife and preparing to attack an unsuspecting Zarutska as she fiddled with her phone, earbuds in.
“We will never arrest our way out [of] issues such as homelessness and mental health,” she wrote.
She added that she is “not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused.”
She said mental health, like the schizophrenia Brown was diagnosed with, “needs to be treated with the same compassion, diligence and commitment as cancer and heart disease,” adding, “those who are unhoused are more frequently the victim of crimes and not the perpetrators.”
Lyles didn’t mention Brown or his career criminal status in her comments, which she concluded with a plea to “do better for those members of our community who need help and have no place to go.”
Social media users ripped Lyles’ statement to shreds, with some accusing her of treating Brown as the victim.
“The Charlotte Mayor should resign. Her number one role is to keep her people safe,” wrote one user on X.
“This is insanity. Violent, mentally people should be off the streets in jail or in a mental health facility, period. They should not be free to stab innocent people to death on public transportation. This does not seem like it should be a hard concept,” wrote another.
“A woman is stabbed in the throat, and the mayor’s response is “more compassion” for the attacker. This is why crime keeps winning!” another gobsmacked commenter wrote.
Following the backlash, Lyles finally acknowledged the need for a change in laws to keep career criminals off the streets and said the city would increase patrols within the transit system.
“Our police officers arrest people only to have them quickly released, which undermines our ability to protect our community and ensure safety,” she wrote in a new statement.
“We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.”
She also vowed to ramp up law enforcement and security personnel patrols on Chalotte train lines.
“Effective immediately, CATS security personnel will be re-deployed for a stronger presence on Blue Line platforms and to increase fare enforcement. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department will also be increasing patrols at key areas across the transit system,” Lyles said.
CATS will also hire another 30 security guards in the coming months, she added.
The mayor did not respond to a request for comment by The Post.
