September 15, 2025
TO: The Honorable Harmeet K. Dhillon
AssistantAttorney General
Civil Rights Division
U.S. Department of Justice
950 PennsylvaniaAvenue NW Washington DC 20530
RE: Request for DOJ Civil Rights Investigation – City of Charlotte, NC
DearAssistantAttorney General Dhillon,
We are writing to you to request the DOJ initiate a civil rights investigation into the practice of minimizing hate crimes which is potentially widespread among various government officials in the City of Charlotte. We believe the practice of these local government officials potentially diverts resources from the investigations of hate crimes to progressive political causes. We thank you for attention to this matter and your service to the country.
I. Who We Are
The Center to Advance Security in America (CASA) is a nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the safety and security of the American people. CASA educates and informs the American people about the actions of their government, and officials that impact the people’s safety, peace and security, and civil rights.
II. Introduction and Factual Background
On August 22, 2025, Iryna Zarutska was murdered in cold blood on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina.1 She had been stabbed in the neck while simply sitting on a bus seat scrolling her phone.2
As it turns out, Zarutska’s (alleged) murderer, Decarlos Dejuan Brown, Jr., who was caught with a pocket knife full of Zarutska’s blood,3 had at least fourteen separate prior criminal charges, including an incident when Brown pulled a gun on a man in the middle of the day in
1 United States v. Decarlos Brown, No. 3:25MJ237, (W.D. N.C. Sept. 9, 2025), https://www.justice.gov/opa/media/1413586/dl?inline. (“Brown Complaint”).
2 MassLive, “Charlotte Train Murder: Graphic Video Capture Random Fatal Stabbing of Young Ukrainian Refugee,” posted Sept. 9, 2025, 0:56, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mMHHDpkzGc.
3 Brown Complaint ¶9.
Charlotte.4 Brown spent six years in prison for that assault. Brown then had a series of strange incidents where he made claims about being controlled by some “manmade material.” He was then arrested for repeatedly calling 911 and charged with “misuse of 911.”5 Within this context, a local magistrate judge released Brown without even requiring bail.6 The judge did this while also ordering a psychological evaluation to determine whether Brown was competent to stand trial.7
After Brown stabbed Zarutska, he was heard saying “I got that white girl.”8 He then later called his sister from jail, claiming that “the material in his body” was responsible for him murdering Zarutska. “I hurt my hand, stabbing her. I don’t even know the lady. I never said not one word to the lady at all. That’s scary, ain’t it? Why would somebody stab somebody for no reason?”9
Charlotte’s Mayor, Vi Lyles, initially tried to limit the exposure of the horrifying video of the murder.10 She then made statements about this murder. She told a reporter that “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.”11 She then later wrote that “We will never arrest our way out [of] issues such as homelessness and mental health."12
The focus of Mayor Lyles’ statement was much more focused on mental health and “unhoused” than crime:
4 Amanda Lee Myers, F.T. Norton, and N’dea Yancey-Bragg, “Charlotte Train Stabbing Suspect Had a Long Criminal History,” USAToday, Sept. 10, 2025, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/09/10/decarlosbrown-criminal-history/86065854007/.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Kate Plummer, “Iryna Zarutska Stabbing Video RevealsAftermath ofAttack,” Newsweek, Sept. 9, 2025, https://www.newsweek.com/iryna-zarutska-stabbing-video-attack-2126962.
9 Anthony Blair and Steven Vago, “Psycho Charlotte Train Suspect Reveals Motive for Slaughtering Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska-as He Offers Chilling Words from Jail,” New York Post, Sept. 10, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/09/10/us-news/decarlos-brown-jr-stabbed-ukrainian-refugee-iryna-zarutska-because-hebelieved-she-was-reading-his-mind-sister/.
10 Mayor Vi Lyles (@CLTMayor), “The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public. I want to than our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family. This was a senseless and tragic loss. My prayers remain with her loved ones as they continue to grieve through an unimaginable time. Like so many of you, I’m heartbroken and I’ve been thinking hard about what safety really looks like in our city. I remain committed to doing all we can to protect our residents and ensure Charlotte is a place where everyone feels safe,” X, Sept. 10, 2025, 8:32 a.m., Irnhttps://x.com/CLTMayor/status/1964305729378275588 (“Mayor Vi Lyles X Post”).
11 Chris Nesi, “Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles Ripped Over Woke Response Demanding ‘Compassion’for Madman Accused of Slaughtering Ukrainian Refugee Iryna Zarutska,” New York Post, Sept. 8, 2025, https://nypost.com/2025/09/08/us-news/charlotte-mayor-vi-lyles-ripped-for-callous-statement-on-murder-ofukrainian-refugee-iryna-zarutska/.
12 Mayor Vi Lyles, “Full Statement by Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles on the Release of Footage of the Murder of Iryna Zarutska,” Official Statement, North State Journal, accessed Sept. 11, 2025, https://nsjonline.com/wpcontent/uploads/2025/09/CLT-MAYOR-VI-LYLES-STATEMENT.pdf.
I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused. Mental health disease is just that a disease like any other that needs to be treated with the same compassion, diligence and commitment as cancer or heart disease. Our community must work to address the underlying issue of access to mental healthcare.Also, those who are unhoused are more frequently the victim of crimes and not the perpetrators. Too many people who are on the street need a safe place to sleep and wrap around services to lift them up.13
It is true that the North Carolina court system also has its problems, which Mayor Lyles alluded to in a subsequent statement.14 But Lyles’initial reaction to a clear example of a hate crime to make the issue about mental health and homelessness as opposed to a hate crime begs the question: is Charlotte sufficiently focused on race related crime?And, if the mayor believes that one cannot fix these problems with arrests, then does the city have policies or practices in place that have an end result of citizens being deprived of their rights?
III. The Department of Justice’s Authority to Investigate the City of Charlotte
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has a history of investigating local governments who have a “pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers or by officials or employees of any governmental agency…that deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”15 The Attorney General has the authority to bring a civil action if it is found that “a State government or unit of local government has engaged in or is engaging in a pattern or practice” of discrimination based upon race, color, or other characteristics.16
IV. Analysis
Mayor Lyles’ initial comments demonstrate that the City of Charlotte has, at the very least, a “practice” of minimizing hate crimes. A clear example, where a black man kills a white woman, and says “I got that white girl,” was swept under the rug. Mayor Lyles appears to have resisted allowing the video to be public. And she encouraged it not to be shared.
13 Ibid.
14 Mayor Vi Lyles, Official Statement, North State Journal, Sept. 8, 2025, https://nsjonline.com/wpcontent/uploads/2025/09/CLT-MAYOR-VI-LYLES-STATEMENT_2.pdf.
15 See e.g. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division v. State of New Jersey, Division of State Police of the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Civil No. 99-5970, available at https://www.justice.gov/crt/causesaction; Department of Justice-Civil Rights Division, Investigation of the Ferguson Police Department, Justice.gov, March 4, 2015, https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/opa/pressreleases/attachments/2015/03/04/ferguson_police_department_report.pdf; quoting 42 U.S.C. §14141 (re-codified at 34 U.S.C. 12601).
16 34 U.S.C. 10228(c)(3).
She provides the guise of “respect for Iryna’s family.”17 But why then did Mayor Lyles then pivot her focus to mental health and homelessness? Why continue to minimize the fact that a hate crime had occurred? Mayor Lyles also appears to be endorsing a practice of not arresting people who show criminal patterns, like Brown. She says “we cannot arrest our way out” of the problem. Again, why say this unless the intention were to minimize Charlotte’s responsibility for allowing someone like Brown to be roaming the streets?
Admittedly, there are unanswered questions. But the Mayor’s questionable decisions to minimize a hate crime would suggest that there is intention to conceal hate crimes in the city
All that the DOJ needs is “reasonable cause to believe that a violation” has occurred, specifically a pattern or practice that “deprives persons of rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States.” Indeed, citizens are protected from “offenses involving actual or perceived race. ”18 And the Mayor’s failure to send a message to the community that racial violence is not tolerated in Charlotte creates the risk of future deprivations to citizens’ right to life or liberty in the city.
Likely, this example is but the tip of the iceberg. The only way to know for sure is to investigate the mayor’s office, the City Manager, and law enforcement, for the City of Charlotte.
V. Conclusion and Request for Investigation
At the very least, there is “reasonable cause to believe” that Charlotte is not sufficiently protecting citizens from racially motivated violence. By calling the issue one of mental health or homelessness, the practice appears to divert attention toward progressive causes rather than the actual root problem. Accordingly, the DOJ should investigate the City of Charlotte, the Mayor’s Office, and any other city offices and officials the DOJ deems necessary.
Sincerely,
James Fitzpatrick Director Center to Advance Security
in America
17 Mayor Vi Lyles X Post.
18 18 U.S.C. §249.