{"id":123121,"date":"2026-03-04T09:26:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:26:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/whatley-links-cooper-to-transit-killing-accuses-dem-of-freeing-rapists-and-murderers-123121"},"modified":"2026-03-04T09:26:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T14:26:09","slug":"whatley-links-cooper-to-transit-killing-accuses-dem-of-freeing-rapists-and-murderers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/whatley-links-cooper-to-transit-killing-accuses-dem-of-freeing-rapists-and-murderers-123121","title":{"rendered":"Whatley links Cooper to transit killing, accuses Dem of freeing \u2018rapists and murderers\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley took aim at his top Democratic opponent ahead of Tuesday\u2019s primary election, tying former Gov. Roy Cooper to the conditions he says led to the stabbing death of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte\u2019s transit system<\/a> last year.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 22, 2025, Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34, is accused of stabbing Zarutska to death<\/a> near the East West Boulevard light rail station in Mecklenburg County as she rode the train.<\/p>\n

Critics say Cooper\u2019s 2021 settlement<\/a> with civil rights groups over COVID-19 prison conditions is connected to Brown being released from custody.<\/p>\n

In a message to the media ahead of Tuesday\u2019s election, Whatley\u2019s campaign titled its victory party press invitation “Deets on where DeCarlos Brown will not be on primary night.”<\/p>\n

CHARLOTTE MAYOR WINS LANDSLIDE REELECTION DESPITE CONTROVERSY OVER IRYNA ZARUTSKA\u2019S SLAYING<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

“Hint: Not at Michael Whatley\u2019s primary night victory party at Noble Smoke in Charlotte,” the release read.<\/p>\n

At the bottom, the Whatley campaign<\/a> launched another broadside, writing that “no, we don\u2019t know for sure if all the child molesters, rapists, and murderers released by Roy Cooper will be at the Cooper party, but we bet those same child molesters, rapists, and murderers are in the Cooper camp.”<\/p>\n

PAM BONDI TORCHES DEMOCRATS FOR REFUSING TO STAND FOR GRIEVING MOTHER OF MURDERED REFUGEE AT SOTU<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

A Cooper campaign spokesperson fired back at Whatley in comments to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

“These Republican attacks are false \u2014 Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his career prosecuting violent criminals<\/a> and keeping thousands of them behind bars as attorney general and signing tough-on-crime laws and a stricter pretrial release bail policy as governor,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

“DC insider lobbyist Michael Whatley is desperate to distract from his support for cuts to law enforcement<\/a> that make North Carolinians less safe,” they added.<\/p>\n

Whatley and Cooper won their respective primaries on Tuesday and will face off to succeed retiring Sen. Thom Tillis<\/a>, R-N.C.<\/p>\n

Earlier Tuesday, Tillis launched his own broadside against DHS Secretary Kristi Noem<\/a> during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, criticizing her handling of FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated western North Carolina.<\/p>\n

In the Zarutska case, FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro blamed “systemic failures” within the transit system of the state\u2019s largest city, citing reports showing crime onboard is higher than the national average.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Source – https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/whatley-links-cooper-transit-killing-accuses-dem-freeing-rapists-murderers <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley took aim at his top Democratic opponent ahead of Tuesday\u2019s primary election, tying former Gov. Roy Cooper to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"twitter_2902945987_2902945987":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[16563],"tags":[],"stock_ticker":[],"class_list":["post-123121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-market-news","entry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWhatley links Cooper to transit killing, accuses Dem of freeing \u2018rapists and murderers\u2019 - Wall Street PR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cablemanpro.com\/wallstreetpr\/whatley-links-cooper-to-transit-killing-accuses-dem-of-freeing-rapists-and-murderers-123121\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Whatley links Cooper to transit killing, accuses Dem of freeing \u2018rapists and murderers\u2019 - Wall Street PR\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley took aim at his top Democratic opponent ahead of Tuesday\u2019s primary election, tying former Gov. 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