The mood in the state legislature was solemn on Thursday, the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attack. But the anniversary wasn’t the main topic of conversation. Instead, Republican leaders spoke to reporters about their planned anti-crime legislative response to two recent high-profile murders — the random stabbing of 23-year old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail in late August, and the fatal shooting of conservative activist, podcaster and Trump ally Charlie Kirk at a college speaking event Wednesday.
“It’s a different country today than it was, frankly, yesterday,” House Speaker Destin Hall said.
Hall and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger shared their commitment to put forth a tough-on-crime legislative package when lawmakers return to Raleigh later this month.
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They were joined by a special guest, former Republican Party Chairman Michael Whatley. Whatley is running for outgoing U.S. Senator Thom Tillis’ seat against former North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. During the press conference, the trio highlighted differences between Cooper and Whatley’s attitudes toward crime, as evidenced by the recommendations of his 2020 task force on racial equity in criminal justice.
Whatley called some of the taskforce’s recommendations, including elimination of cash bail for certain misdemeanors, “soft on crime.”
The Cooper campaign later pushed back on Whatley’s remarks.
“Roy Cooper knows North Carolinians need to be safe in their communities; he spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and drug dealers, increasing the penalties for violence against law enforcement, and keeping thousands of criminals off the streets and behind bars,” a Cooper campaign spokesperson said.
In a statement, Senate Democratic Leader Sydney Batch said Republicans have cut mental health and other public safety policy solutions presented by Democrats in the past, citing a 2015 decision to cut $110 million in state funding for regional mental health centers.
House Democratic Minority Leader Robert Reives criticized the inclusion of Whatley in an event that was supposed to be about fighting crime. Reives said he was “willing to work across the aisle to forge a consensus if we are serious about real solutions.”
“Our time can be spent on political campaigns or it can be spent on legislating,” Reives said in a statement.
“In this building we cannot do both at the same time. The press conference today used state taxpayer resources to promote a political candidate when it was billed as a legislative announcement.”
Light rail stabbing
Around 10 p.m. on August 22, Zarutska took Charlotte’s Blue Line home from work. She sat in front of Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who stabbed her with a pocket knife several minutes into her ride. There were several others on the train at the time.
Since at least 2014, Brown has been charged with multiple crimes. He was arrested in 2014 for possession of a firearm as a felon. Federal prosecutors did not take up the case, and Brown accepted a lesser charge of robbery using a deadly weapon, according to Associated Press reporting.
Brown has been previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, and his mother tried to involuntarily commit him to a psychiatric hospital.
In January, Brown was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor crime. He was released on bail in exchange for a promise to appear for his court date, after telling officers there was a substance inside him that controlled many of his actions.
The murder occurred during the final stretch before Charlotte’s mayoral and city council primary elections. Several candidates criticized Democratic Mayor Vi Lyles for her initial delayed response, but in the extremely low-turnout contest, Lyles effectively secured re-election.
Since then, the murder has appeared in national and international headlines. Lyles has issued further statements, as well. On Sept. 8, she censured the courts and magistrates for being too quick to release offenders.
“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,” Lyles said in a statement.
In the past two years, Lyles said CATS has doubled its security personnel and tripled its safety and security budget. In the past few weeks, the system announced increased security and fare enforcement on the Blue Line.
Hall echoed Lyles’ concerns about magistrates, who he said seem to be using their discretion improperly in this case and in others. Brown should have never been released from jail considering his history of crime and mental health issues, he said.
In 2023, Hall led efforts to pass the Pretrial Integrity Act, which limited magistrates’ discretion for releasing offenders who were already on pretrial release and got arrested again. Cooper signed that measure into law.
But it isn’t enough, Hall said.
“If we have magistrates who are asleep at the wheel, like this one obviously was, we’ve got to make a change,” he said.
He suggested adding magistrate oversight, ethical requirements and training as several options in the September legislative package.
“There are a lot of tweaks that we can make to our current system that would largely prevent this sort of thing from happening again and and look, I’m hopeful we’ll have a bipartisan solution on that like we did in the past with the Pretrial Integrity Act,” he said.
Cooper posted to the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, in response.
“The murder of Iryna Zarutska is a horrible tragedy and we must do everything we can to keep people safe,” Cooper said.
“Only a cynical DC insider would think it’s acceptable to use her death for political points, especially one who supported cutting funding to law enforcement in NC,” apparently in reference to Whatley’s support for federal funding cuts earlier this year.
Kirk shooting
For many members of the North Carolina General Assembly, Kirk’s loss is personal. Hall said many members knew him personally, and several staff had worked for him before.
“He was an incredible advocate for the conservative cause, and what we saw in Utah is really something that should never happen in this country,” Hall said.
Kirk cofounded Turning Point USA, an organization aimed at bringing conservative youth into the political fold. He also hosted a popular podcast, the Charlie Kirk Show, where he leaned into culture war issues. Kirk is credited by many as a key factor in Trump’s re-election, as his work motivated many previously inactive conservative Gen Z voters to get to the polls.
Kirk was fatally shot Wednesday from a rooftop while speaking about gun violence to a group of college students at Utah Valley University. He had been a strong supporter of gun rights. The suspect remains at large.
Whatley placed the blame squarely on “the rhetoric and soft-on-crime policies from the left.”
“When folks on the left seek to dehumanize those they disagree with, they use words like ‘fascist’ and ‘Nazi’ and they call for violence, that’s what leads to deranged people doing cowardly and evil acts,” he said.
When asked whether the legislative package would include any gun control provisions, Hall said that was not the issue at the heart of the Charlotte stabbing.
Legislative anti-crime plans
Lawmakers are scheduled to return to Raleigh on Sept. 22 for the final substantive policy push of the year.
Originally, the plan was to tackle several outstanding veto override votes. One vetoed bill, Senate Bill 50, would allow North Carolinians 18 and older to carry a concealed firearm without a permit. Another, House Bill 87, would authorize the state’s participation in an educational choice federal tax credit program included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
But now, there’s other business expected on the agenda.
In addition to Hall’s ideas on magistrate reform, Republican leaders mentioned several other potential changes to get tough on crime.
Berger would like to end cashless bail, as well as restore respect for police officers.
“Hard working law enforcement officers are all too often villainized just for doing their jobs keeping us safe,” he said. “It’s time for that to end.”
He also wants to continue efforts to restart the death penalty in North Carolina, which for years has been effectively banned for over a decade by a judicial moratorium.
Hall talked about looking into involuntary commitment rules. For several decades, there’s been a movement away from putting people in mental health hospitals, but taking a closer look at that may be worth “a longer term conversation,” he said.
He also wants to ensure that people charged with a crime who have mental health issues are getting offered mental health treatment services that should be available under current law.
Things could change in the coming weeks. Berger said that while they are committed to putting something forward, they don’t have many specifics quite yet.
“We’re accepting suggestions from all members,” he said.
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