Do white lives matter? Leaders show compassion for black suspect in brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska

The murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska has sparked concerns about crime in the U.S. from conservatives around the country — but others, like the mayor of Charlotte, don’t seem as concerned.

“Charlotte’s Democratic mayor, Vi Lyles, thanks the media for not sharing the attack video,” BlazeTV host Allie Beth Stuckey comments, disturbed.

“The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public. I want to thank our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family,” Lyles wrote in a post on X.

“In her statement, Mayor Lyles did not mention the victim by name or discuss any specific measures that the Charlotte area transit system or police are taking to address safety in public transit. She focused on the suspect and urged others not to demonize homeless people,” Stuckey says.

“She said the suspect appeared to have struggled with mental health and suffered a crisis,” she adds.

Lyles also stated, “We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness or mental health.”

“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,” she added.

“So basically, this person shouldn’t be held responsible for his cold-blooded murder because he apparently was mentally unwell,” Stuckey comments, shocked — though his “mental health” and homelessness status are far from the only reason she believes the suspect is receiving special treatment.

“Stop being afraid to talk about crimes just because of the color of the person that committed them. The facts are the facts, and the fact is this: A white person is statistically far more likely to be killed by a black person than the reverse, despite the fact that white people make up about 60% of the population and black men make up about 7% of the population,” Stuckey explains.

“Now, we should never condemn any one race and glorify another race. People are individuals. That is absolutely true. ... But the facts do matter, which is why the opposite collective judgment is also wrong,” she continues.

“This is exactly what the media does — glorifies one race and condemns another, assumes that one race is guilty and that the other is completely abdicated of any responsibility. This is what progressives do,” she adds, connecting it to the death of George Floyd.

When George Floyd died, she explains, “all of your favorite apolitical pastors not only expressed outrage about that publicly, but they connected his death to the complicity of all white people, the racism of all police, and the racial injustice embedded in all of America.”

“But never, ever did or do we see the same people talk about a crime like this — one, because this kind of crime happens too often.”

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