The "racial equity" task force created in 2020 by former North Carolina Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper is under scrutiny after the fatal stabbing of a woman on Charlotte's light-rail system, allegedly by a Black man with 14 prior arrests.
Since video surfaced of the Aug. 22 murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, the White House, along with congressional and state Republicans, has assailed Cooper's Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice (TREC), which he established in 2020.
Republicans say TREC, created to "ensure racial equity in North Carolina’s criminal justice system," is the reason Decarlos Brown Jr. was free to be on the train when Zarutska sat in the row in front of him on her way home from work.
Former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, who's running against Cooper for the open U.S. Senate seat in North Carolina in 2026, pinned the blame on TREC for policies like cashless bail.
"In 2020, my Democrat opponent, Roy Cooper, tasked a group of extreme leftists with advising him on implementing his executive order, which introduced weak-on-crime policies to North Carolina's justice system regarding ‘pretrial release, fees, and fines,'" Whatley said in a post this week. "These policy changes empowered dangerous criminals, such as Decarlos Brown Jr., the murderer of Iryna Zarutska."
The White House also shined a spotlight on state and local 2020 policies enacted in the aftermath of George Floyd's death, including the Charlotte City Council's initiative to "reimagine" policing, which involved diverting 911 calls away from the police department.
"Democrat politicians, liberal judges and weak prosecutors would rather virtue signal than lock up criminals and protect their communities," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a Tuesday press briefing.
The release of the video showing the crime prompted immediate policy reversals by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles and Gov. Josh Stein. Lyles, one day after initially defending Charlotte policies, announced an increased law enforcement presence on city trains.
Stein called on the state Legislature to pass his proposal for more law enforcement and correctional officers.
Too little, too late for Zarutska, Republicans said.
"Republicans actually take the issue seriously," Matt Mercer, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Republican Party, told CNN. "For years now you've seen Democrats really talk about how we really need to feel more sorry for the people committing crimes than those who suffer from them."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
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