Real compassion means protecting the innocent.
Can’t get over the murder of that poor young woman on that Charlotte NC commuter train. Is the legacy news media underplaying this story because it doesn’t fit the narrative? Because it might justify President Trump’s crackdown on disorder?
Never mind tariffs, Gaza, or vaccines. Shove Jeffrey Epstein aside for the moment. (Someone tell CNN.) This is the conversation America must have. Progressives across the country took all the wrong lessons from the death of George Floyd. Progressives have not backed down from Defund the Police — they just don’t say the quiet part out loud. Police today fear using too much force, lest they be imprisoned instead of the offender. Judges mistake permissiveness for compassion. They gave second chance after second chance to that poor girl’s killer — even after 14 previous arrests.
A local magistrate allowed this mentally deranged criminal to be released from prison on a written promise to appear in court at a later date. Didn’t even pay for his ticket to ride that day on 08-22-25. We watched the surveillance video. Poor Iryna Zarutska, age 23, did not seem to thrash about or call out. Just quietly bled to death. The cruel irony, she left war-torn Ukraine for the supposed safety of the United States. After the unprovoked stabbing, woman across the aisle gets up to leave. No good samaritans riding that train! (That’s the problem with mass transit: full of people you don’t know and should not trust.)
→ The Taboo that killed Iryna Zarutska (paywall)
Prisons protect the innocent
The Free Press quotes a Republican candidate for district attorney of New York:
“You absolutely 100 percent CAN arrest your way toward a much safer city.” Horrific crimes like what happened in Charlotte are “the result of decarceration and restorative justice policies.”
Welcome to Madison WI! Dane County progressives ensure that bail jumpers get more signature bonds. They are building a new jail here in the state’s fastest-growing county — it’s smaller than the old jail. A plethora of ever-more imaginative jail diversion programs. City police won’t chase the perp if he flees.
Madison set up a duplicative (and incompetent) bureaucracy to second-guess the police. Madison defunded school resource police officers in its troubled public high schools. In Milwaukee, kids are put asleep in bathtubs to protect them from stray bullets. Milwaukee County’s Democrat(ic) executive, David Crowley, is running for governor.
We understand treating root causes — but those are longterm and imprecise. Iryna Zarutska, age 23, was living in the here and now, returning home from her shift at the restaurant. Had just texted her boyfriend she would be home soon. Until she took government transportation.
New York’s progressive D.A. Alvin Bragg prosecuted subway hero Daniel Penny. Where government failed, the young man took matters into his own hands to protect fellow passengers.
Blaska’s Bottom Line: DEI-obsessed progressives are willing to risk innocent lives rather than disproportionately incarcerate the wrong demographic. Progressives drove that train in Charlotte.
21 responses to “Restorative justice killed that transit rider in Charlotte!”
Wake up progressives, please.
There is no toxic empathy on stolen land.
Truer words were never spoken. Very well written post, Squire. It would be great if you would send it to the editor of your former employer (the local newspaper) and respectfully ask them to print it. I won’t hold my breath waiting for the WSJ to publish it!
You can’t wake up stupid.
What I observed in my long career at MPD was restorative justice does work to a point with a limited age group (kids under 17). Adults, not many toe the line. The years of progressive policing in Madison really doesn’t show much success, otherwise it would be championed nationally. It is a “feel good” way to connect with citizens, but the criminal element, not so much (Just look at Portland, Seattle and Charlotte among many more). Sentencing in Dane County as well as Bail Conditions are entirely “stoopid” progressive and in many cases, such as the suspect in North Carolina are a travesty waiting to happen.
Very demoralizing for a cop in Madison, and having the good Sheriff, Mayor, common council and county board proclaim, (often times defiantly) that all is well in Haight Ashbury of the midwest is maddening.
The evil made manifest on that Charlotte, NC light rail train reminds me of psychopathic killer Salim Amara, currently residing permanently in the Mendota Mental Health Institute. Back in ’98 he boarded a Madison city bus, poured a jug of gasoline on an engaged couple, smiled, and set them on fire. The bus was a moving fireball with its windows blown out by the time it screeched to a halt near Hammersly Road. All six people on board, including the driver (and killer) have survived. To this day Metro Transit does not allow passengers to board who appear to be toting gasoline. But what about knives and guns? There are no metal detectors on buses.
Whoops! Technically, Salim Amara is not a “killer”, as I erroneously described him, unless he’s been pulling the wings off flies for some recreation.
On the money Dave.
Just waiting for the lefty/progressives to chime in. Maybe like the Mayor of Charlotte did.
Always blame progressives for your own failures. Cut funding to the cops. cut staff because your out of money. S.C. is screwed right now. One town had it’s entire police adept quit. You’re great at pointing out problems; now how about some help fixing them. Musk and Dementia Don started this crap just to give you guys big tax breaks. Every time progressives point out a problem we get blown off as a HOAX. Give DC back the billions you froze and maybe your national gaurd can stop raking leaves and get home to their jobs and families.
Yup, more$$$ for social engineering.
Waukeska Parade Sociopath is a spitting image of the train slasher. Both with rap sheets a mile long and given plenty of chances because lunatic leftists slaps on the wrists. Sorry buddy the violence has nothing to do with funds being cut off and lack of spending. We are 36 trillion in debt, the war on poverty and handouts for those unmet needs has been fought on backs of gop/dem funding for years. Results more poor, more wickedness, more systemic institutionalized poverty and democrat tolerated crime. What it comes down to is some people do not deserve to be apart of society and should be locked away forever either in prison or the richard lesiak mental health institute forever. Seriously get some help you depraved human
R.I.P. charlie kirk!
Charlotte is a Democratic city lazy-ack with a Democratic governor – conservatives need not show up. What about the girl Lazy-ack? Do you have any sympathy for her like you do for all the other Ukranians?? What say you about Charlie Kirk being assassinated for his right to free speech?? Did he have it coming or deserve it??? Just for speaking sense that was a little more common 20-30 years ago and Trump was a Democrat in good standing. Don’t laugh it off – the Democratic Party owns these events!!
The Dems own this? I think not. How about telling your congress people for some gun laws. Kirk gets shot today. Three kids get shot in Colo. on same day. 13-year-old in Washington state arrested with 23 guns in his house and 100’s of rounds. 23 guns!!!!!! getting ready for another mass shooting. The Mlps shooting. So, we get more thoughts, prayers, lowered flags, Newscasters with teary eyes. ACREW, YOU bob. Tell the people you vote for to stop kissing the NRA ass. Stop taking their money. This will never end until they do. Save the gun rights BS. It’s a cheap excuse for being lazy and greedy. We are the only place in the world that puts up with this shit. Maybe it’s time for you to own something.
Know what else is a city run by Democrats in a state with a Democrat governor? Chicago. And Baltimore. And Los Angeles And San Francisco. And Minneapolis. And Seattle. And Portland. And Philadelphia. And New York. And Milwaukee. See a pattern?
Progressive policies of restorative justice, cashless bail, decriminalized drug use, and voluntary-only commitment have turned deranged savages out into the public where they can wage mayhem on the rest of us. Ask anyone who’s ridden mass transit in a major city lately if they feel safe doing so. As if the crazies and thugs on them wasn’t enough, getting off at the wrong stop can be worse.
Did the savage who killed Iryna Zarutska have a gun? Maybe she’d be alive today if she’d been carrying. And Democrats think the answer is to disarm responsible gun owners. Eighth wits, every last one of them.
Liesak: even the label of “Court Jester” is above you. The problem is the person not the gun, you dimwit. If more people openly carried firearms crime would plummet.
Chicago has a lot more gun laws than Madison. How is that working out.
“I stopped doing public appearances several years ago — before I got cancelled — because I judged it too dangerous.
The context was Democrats being hypnotized by the media to believe they were living in Hitler’s Germany.”
– Scott Adams on X
The other problem regarding the lack of the Good Samaritan, Liberal bastions have shown a greater propensity to prosecute and imprison those who help as opposed to the offenders.
These Dem cities are severely under policed. Try to hire cops to serve in Charlotte, Chicago, Minneapolis, DC etc. They’ve beeb defunded, wrongfully prosecuted, and harassed beyond tolerance.
I know a recently retired Charlotte cop who told me months ago that police morale in Charlotte is terrible. Why risk your life arresting evil men who will be released the next day? Rinse, repeat.