Whoopi Goldberg on Thursday urged the public and media to stop "politicizing" the killing of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska, saying attention should center on the victim and on how the criminal-justice and mental-health systems handle people in crisis.
Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed on Aug. 22 aboard a Charlotte Area Transit System train. Authorities say the suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, attacked her in a broadly publicized incident captured on surveillance video that circulated widely after being released by police.
Goldberg, 69, made her remarks on the ABC talk show The View, saying, "Look, a young woman is dead. Let's take that into consideration," and urging people to stop turning the slaying into a political issue. "So, stop politicizing this. This is not political. This has to do with how we take care of our sick Americans when they are in need," she said.
The case has drawn intense national attention and debate over how authorities handle defendants with apparent mental-health issues and lengthy criminal records. A review of police records by media outlets found that Brown had a long history of arrests dating to 2007, when he was a juvenile, and that he served five years in prison for a 2014 armed robbery before being released in September 2020. Records and reporting show arrests in February 2021 for allegedly assaulting a relative and a July 2022 domestic-disturbance arrest.
In January, Brown was charged with misusing 911 after telling officers he believed someone had given him a "man-made" material that was controlling his actions, according to a media review of police files. He was released after signing a written promise to appear at a later hearing, and prosecutors and White House officials have pointed to that release in criticizing local handling of the case, saying it left Brown free months later.
Brown's family members have offered differing accounts. His mother told CNN that he had been homeless and was staying at a local shelter, and one relative said the system had "failed him." A sister provided recordings to media in which Brown allegedly told her he wanted police to investigate "materials" that he said were controlling him.
Several commentators and news figures have framed the case in the context of broader policy questions. CNN host Van Jones said on air that investigators and the public do not yet know Brown's motive and argued the case raised questions about how society treats people who are "hurting," adding "Hurt people hurt people."
Law enforcement officials have charged Brown in state court, and on Tuesday federal prosecutors announced additional charges tied to the attack, raising the possibility that he could face the death penalty if convicted on federal counts. Authorities have not publicly detailed all of the evidence supporting the federal case; federal and local investigations remain active.
Police and transit officials have said the surveillance images were released to help explain the sequence of events and to solicit public assistance. The release of the footage prompted renewed scrutiny of local court decisions, pretrial procedures and how officials weigh public-safety risks when defendants are released pending trial.
Zarutska's death has prompted statements from elected officials, victim-advocacy groups and public commentators calling for improved protections for transit riders and for better coordination among law enforcement, social-service providers and the courts. Authorities have not announced a date for any upcoming hearings in the federal case, and prosecutors have said they will present their evidence in court. The U.S. Department of Justice and local prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
As the legal process proceeds, Goldberg and others have urged restraint in public commentary and asked that reporting and debate keep Zarutska's death and her surviving family at the center of the story.