'Critical tool for addressing emergencies'

'I'm admitting it'

'Fan-favorites that appeal to the masses'

DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Crime in Charlotte, North Carolina, spiked under a left-leaning district attorney before the August stabbing death of a woman on a public train thrust the city into the national spotlight. Violent crime in Charlotte was 13% higher in 2024 than in 2018, despite decreases after a COVID-19-era crime surge, according to FBI data that records homicide, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Left-wing officials such as Democrat Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, who has focused on promoting racial equity in the justice system, are now under renewed scrutiny since the Aug. 22 arrest of a mentally ill suspect with a lengthy criminal history in the murder of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska. This Fatal Stabbing Video Is Worse Than You Think… pic.twitter.com/5s5p73VZTk— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 8, 2025 Surveillance camera footage released on Friday showed Zaruska boarding a light rail train in Charlotte at night, sitting in front of a hooded man—identified as Decarlos Brown—who stood up and raised his arm to stab her three times. Brown had been arrested 14 other times, racking up charges since 2011 that included felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats, The New York Post reported. The August stabbing reflects the larger problem of violent crime under left-leaning officials in Mecklenburg County who have prioritized addressing supposed racial bias in the justice system. After Merriweather took office in 2017, violent crime rose to an all-time high in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the height of anti-police advocacy tied to the Black Lives Matter movement, according to WCNC Charlotte. The district attorney’s office announced in 2019 that he had started a “Diversity and Inclusion Team” made up of assistant district attorneys and legal assistants, teaching prosecutors to look at trials “through an equity lens.” The team also planned to build connections to Race Matters for Juvenile Justice, an organization working “to reduce disproportionality and disparate outcomes for children and families of color” in criminal justice, according to its website. Merriweather has also pushed racial bias training for his prosecutors, leading to “actual changes in the courtroom, where prosecutors are now commonly observed explicitly raising issues of race in jury selection,” according to his campaign website. In 2022, Merriweather noted a 20% decrease in his county’s use of a “habitual felon” law that enhances punishments for repeat offenders, saying it reflects the “thoughtfulness” of his approach, Bolts Magazine reported. “When people talk about me being reformed minded, I take that as a compliment,” he told North Carolina Lawyers Weekly in 2023. North Carolina’s now-defunct Task Force on Racial Equity in the Criminal Justice System, created in June 2020, commended Merriweather’s office as a model for the rest of the state, his campaign website says. The state later passed multiple reform laws based on the task force’s recommendations, including one banning or restricting criminal penalties for numerous local ordinances. Merriweather’s office did not respond to a request for comment from the DCNF. The left-wing MacArthur Foundation also awarded $2 million in 2016 to Mecklenburg County for its “Safety and Justice Challenge,” a nationwide program aimed at reducing “over-incarceration” and racial disparities, according to the foundation’s website. Merriweather’s office was one of several local agencies involved in the partnership. The county decreased its incarceration rate from 741 per 100,000 residents in 2012 to 489 in 2020, according to the Vera Institute. The MacArthur Foundation then gave the county a $228,000 “capstone award” in 2023 to continue its “progress,” its website says. The MacArthur Foundation did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. As of 2024, Charlotte’s violent crime rate was 5% higher than in 2019 and 13% higher than in 2018, according to data that local police reported to the FBI. The percentage decreased in 2021 and 2022, remained the same in 2023 and rose by 3% in 2024. Zaruska’s murder has prompted both Merriweather and Democratic Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles—who faces a primary election against four challengers on Tuesday—to advocate for tougher approaches to crime. “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 Monday statement. She also announced increased police patrols across Charlotte’s transit system. The mayor’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. Merriweather said after the killing that courts can make it hard for prosecutors to lock up the mentally ill, Axios reported. A judge released Brown from custody on a “written promise to appear” in January after he was arrested for allegedly misusing the 911 system, according to WSOC-TV. Brown was diagnosed with schizophrenia and allegedly called 911 to say that a substance was controlling when he talked, walked and ate. He also touted his support for the Pretrial Integrity Act, a 2023 state law that he said addresses repeat offenders by transferring pretrial detention authority from magistrates to judges in various cases, Axios reported. Merriweather also suggested considering tighter punishments for fare evasion after transit officials reported that Brown may have boarded the train without paying. Lyles initially responded to Zaruska’s murder in August by arguing that “We will never arrest our way out of issues such as homelessness and mental health” and encouraging members of the public to have compassion toward mentally ill criminals as they would cancer patients. The Democratic mayor, who took office in 2017, signed a proclamation in June 2020 declaring racism a “public health crisis” and arguing that “criminal justice practices have caused deep disparities, harm and mistrust.” The White House chimed in to conservatives’ criticism of Charlotte’s leadership, calling Zaruska’s murder a failure of “woke policies” in a Monday statement. The White House pointed to the MacArthur Foundation program and other initiatives as evidence that soft-on-crime policies set the stage for Zaruska to die at the hands of a repeat offender. “There are evil people. We have to be able to handle that,” President Donald Trump said Monday in response to the murder. “If we don’t handle that, we don’t have a country.” Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation The post Democrat DA Pushed Racial Equity as Crime Spiked Before Horrific Train Stabbing appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Virginia prosecutor Shannon Taylor announced that she is running for the Democrat nomination for the 2026 congressional midterms in an attempt to remove nine-term Republican incumbent Rep. Rob Wittman. It’s a seat that national Democrats look to target with significant resources. Though a member of the Virginia Progressive Prosecutors for Justice, the Henrico County commonwealth’s attorney’s tenure predates the 2016 George Soros-funded campaigns throughout the country to oust Republican and centrist Democrat prosecutors in favor of ones who would use their prosecutorial discretion to do what has been dubbed “hug-and-release” justice reform. Unlike Ray Morrogh, a Democrat who was ousted by Soros-backed Steve Descano in 2019 for Fairfax County commonwealth’s attorney, Taylor was able to impress the Soros crowd enough to avoid primary challenges during her tenure. She narrowly lost to Jay Jones for the Democratic Party nomination for Virginia’s next attorney general. Having the statewide experience of that campaign for attorney general may put her at the top of a crowded field looking to flip Virginia’s 1st Congressional District from red to blue. Fundraising will be a strong suit. She raised over $2 million in her primary challenge with Jones. The largest chunk of that, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, came from Dominion Energy, which contributed $800,000. Jones made that major corporate donation a campaign issue in his narrow victory earlier this year. Taylor’s record since flipping the commonwealth attorney’s office in 2011 from Republican is mediocre by most standards. Henrico’s crime rate stands at approximately 35.16 crimes per 1,000 residents annually, which is higher than both the Virginia state average and the national average. According to the website Crimegrade.org, which aggregates publicly available crime statistics, Henrico County holds a C- grade for overall crime, with an A- in violent crime but a lower D+ grade for property crimes, highlighting property-related offenses (burglary, theft, vehicle theft) as a continuing concern. Taylor’s office has handled several high-profile cases and was recently at the center of the investigation into former Henrico Doctors’ Hospital nurse Erin Strotman, who is facing charges for allegedly abusing multiple infants in the neonatal intensive care unit beginning in 2022. The 2026 race for Virginia’s 1st Congressional District is going to have considerable money available to the Democratic Party’s nominee. Republican Wittman’s opposition to President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency efforts has led the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee to identify the district as a target, signaling party investment and confidence in its competitiveness. The Cook Political Report is currently looking at the race as a tossup, 50-50, despite Wittman winning in 2024 with 55% of the vote. However, Inside Elections and University of Virginia Center for Politics’ Sabato’s Crystal Ball still rate the race as “Likely Republican.” To date, in addition to Taylor, several individuals have filed with the Democratic Party to run for the nomination for the 1st Congressional District seat: Salaam Bhatti, a lawyer with the Virginia Poverty Law Center; Tim Cywinski with the Virginia Sierra Club; Lisa Vedernikova Khanna with the Metro Richmond Area Young Democrats; Ericka Kopp, a health care lawyer; Andrew Lucchetti, a Henrico County-based civil rights lawyer; Amanda Pohl, the Chesterfield County Circuit Court clerk; James Michael Shea, a public schoolteacher in Henrico County; Sean Sublette, a freelance meteorologist; and Melvin Tull, a lawyer and military veteran. The post Prosecutor Announces Run to Flip Virginia Congressional Seat Blue appeared first on The Daily Signal.

The WSJ Front Page Is Everything Wrong With the Protection Racket Media

The Daniel Penny Effect Is Destroying Blue Cities

As NewsBusters has found, the liberal media were on the side of violent crime and murder as they when from ignoring a cold-blooded act of murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zaruska on Charlotte, North Carolina light rail to making it a ‘Republicans pounce’ story. On Monday night’s On Balance, NewsNation host Leland Vittert unloaded on the liberal media for intentionally not giving Zaruska the same kind of attention they paid to drug addict George Floyd. “America, is it a George Floyd moment. Not about policing, but about crime,” Vittert proclaimed at the top of his show. “That video remember five years Floyd's death. It changed how we talked about policing. This video has every reason to change the way we talk about crime.” Vittert singled out CNN chief media clown Brian Stelter for trying to make the case about racism rather than his Democratic Party love for criminals: VITTERT: Many of you probably haven't seen the video until now. The same legacy media outlets, that did wall-to-wall coverage of Floyd have largely ignored this story. And when they finally did talk about it this morning, it was to call anybody who cared was concerned about this story a racist. [Cuts to video] STELTER: I have to say some of the replies to Musk, some of the comments around the story are baldly racist, stoking fear of African Americans because this man attacked a white woman.     “An unarmed, innocent woman is killed on a train, and the real problem is racism. That worked five years ago. It does not work anymore,” Vittert denounced Stelter’s narrative. Noting that the case was “about how a host of progressive policies keep letting the worst offenders back on the street until they commit crimes like this,” he called attention to how the far-left Democratic mayor of Charlotte, Vi Lyles thanked the media for aiding in her cover-up of the murder: Coverage, or the lack of coverage of most of the major networks, shows the obvious bias and blindness by most media organizations to what Americans are actually scared about. If you're scared about something, you care about. So in fact, the mayor of Charlotte praise media outlets for not showing the video. Of course, she doesn't want you to see the video. Nor does she want you to see his criminal record. “For Progressives and their friends in the media, they think that crime isn't the criminals fault. Crime is somehow the fault of a racist country,” Vittert called out their lunacy. Before pivoting to discussing the story with Bill O’Reilly, Vittert wrapped up his monologue with the fact that Gallup found that “75 percent of Americans ‘worry a great deal or a fair amount’ about crime. 67 percent of Americans were somewhat or very dissatisfied with the nation's policies to reduce crime.” “Right now, Americans feel like crime is spiraling out of control. And now we can finally have an honest conversation about it without being called racist,” he boasted. The transcript is below. Click "expand" to read: NewsNation’s On Balance September 8, 2025 9:02:22 p.m. Eastern (…) LELAND VITTERT: America, is it a George Floyd moment. Not about policing, but about crime. That video remember five years Floyd's death. It changed how we talked about policing. This video has every reason to change the way we talk about crime. Many of you probably haven't seen the video until now. The same legacy media outlets, that did wall-to-wall coverage of Floyd have largely ignored this story. And when they finally did talk about it this morning, it was to call anybody who cared was concerned about this story a racist. [Cuts to video] BRIAN STELTER: I have to say some of the replies to Musk, some of the comments around the story are baldly racist, stoking fear of African Americans because this man attacked a white woman. [Cuts back to live] VITTERT: An unarmed, innocent woman is killed on a train, and the real problem is racism. That worked five years ago. It does not work anymore. This story is as much about race as the George Floyd story was and is. Race is center here, center to this story. George Floyd the story was about how police treat black Americans. The Iryna Zaruska story is about the epidemic of black crime in America. More specifically, it is about how a host of progressive policies keep letting the worst offenders back on the street until they commit crimes like this. Before we go any further, though, we want to tell you about Iryna. She escaped war-torn Ukraine and was settling up and setting up a better life for herself in America, in Charlotte. Her obituary described her as, quote, “gifted and passionate artist who had a deep love for animals.” Adding that she was “happiest when surrounded by family and loved ones.” Reportedly, she had a black lives matter poster in our house. Think about that. She escaped war only to get murdered here in America. The irony. Somehow all those folks, who talk about Ukraine all the time aren’t talking about her now. Coverage, or the lack of coverage of most of the major networks, shows the obvious bias and blindness by most media organizations to what Americans are actually scared about. If you're scared about something, you care about. So in fact, the mayor of Charlotte praise media outlets for not showing the video. Of course, she doesn't want you to see the video. Nor does she want you to see his criminal record. He had 33 run-ins with the law dating back to 2007, 14 arrests, four of them for felonies. He recently served five years in prison for armed robbery but was let out early. Shortly after his release, he assaulted his own sister. He was let out after that. But the mayor statement didn't talk about that. She talked about meaning compassion for the alleged killer since he was homeless and had mental illness. Anybody who stabs a woman in the throat probably has mental illnesses. But that's the point. For Progressives and their friends in the media, they think that crime isn't the criminals fault. Crime is somehow the fault of a racist country. President Trump offered a much different reaction on Truth Social. He wrote, “The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer's knife. And now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail.” Those comments came after he offered this earlier. [Cuts to video] PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: I just give my love and hope to the family of the young woman who was stabbed this morning or last night in Charlotte by a madman, a lunatic. Just got up and started – It’s right on the tape. Not really watchable because it's so horrible. But just viciously stabbed. He’s just sitting there. So there’re evil people. We have to be able to handle that. If we don't handle that, we don't have a country. [Cuts back to live] VITTERT: North Carolina's governor, Democrat appears to understand at least some of the optics of this story he wrote on X, “We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe. That's why my budget calls for more funding to hire more well trained police officers.” Here's the thing. It is no longer about cops. And we know that because this guy was in jail. He had been arrested by cops but kept getting let out. So it's not about cops. Governor, it's about Democrats refusing to be honest about who is committing the crimes and the ways to stop it. Like ending cashless bail or early release, which likely left the alleged Charlotte killer out of jail 14 times. Democratic politicians often point out the crime is down in most major cities. You can make statistics say whatever you want. Team Trump has already caught on to that. A Trump adviser told Axios this morning, “Crime is not a data thing. It's a feeling thing. Politicians don't understand that it's about how you feel when you walk on the subway platform.” Right now, Americans don't feel safe. Gallup polling from March. 75 percent of Americans “worry a great deal or a fair amount” about crime. 67 percent of Americans were somewhat or very dissatisfied with the nation's policies to reduce crime. Right now, Americans feel like crime is spiraling out of control. And now we can finally have an honest conversation about it without being called racist. (…)

On Monday’s CBS Evening News, the show’s “Eye on America” segment celebrated the supposed surge in elderly Americans — increasingly consisting of the Baby Boomer generation — have become hooked on marijuana. “Eye on America, the Acapulco golden years. More older Americans are getting high on marijuana,” boasted co-anchor Maurice DuBois in one of three teases. DuBois later added the set-up to the piece from chief correspondent Jim Axelrod: “[T]onight, we focus on one way [America] has changed. When the Baby Boom generation was coming-of-age, marijuana use was against the law. Well, now in much of America, it’s legal. As Jim Axelrod reports some boomers are making up for lost time.”     Axelrod opened with a giggly Boomer making a pot-laced dessert and then another rolling a joint amid the supposed surge of 46 percent in elderly marijuana usage from 2021 to 2023 (click “expand”): AXELROD: Don Searles is going to a party and doesn’t want to show up empty-handed to. DON SEARLES: That’s done. In goes peanuts. AXELROD: So, he’s making peanut brittle using an old family recipe with a modern-day twist. [TO SEARLES] Now you got a new ingredient. SEARLES: We added the marijuana. Yeah AXELROD: The party Don’s attending is an old school pot party although this one has a new wrinkle: It’s at the Trilogy Retirement Community, an hour east of San Francisco where lately that golf course has a new competitor for popularity. CRAWLEY: This is the old style of rolling a joint. AXELROD: Cannabis. Gail Crawley, the host of the party, is 74 and not at all surprised about new numbers. Between 2021 and 2023 cannabis use among Americans 65 and older went up 46 percent. [TO CRAWLEY] Does that surprise you at all? CRAWLEY: No. AXELROD [TO CRAWLEY]: Why not? CRAWLEY: Cannabis is a good solution to a lot of medicinal issues. He spoke of a third anecdote with another Bay Area nursing home resident saying he’s only consumed edibles and the dessert guy using it to combat chronic pain as proof “the stigma is gone” surrounding usage since marijuana is “ legal in 40 states for medical use and a 24 for recreational.” This led into the only brief mention of there being anyone not on board with this: AXELROD: That’s his experience but some medical professionals think differently. MATT SPRINGER: If they are smoking marijuana, we can be pretty confident that they’re harming their cardiovascular system. AXELROD: Professor Matt Springer at UC San Francisco has a warning. The active ingredient may carry health risks no matter how seniors get it. Smoking it, dummies, even peanut brittle. [TO SPRINGER] For people who get their THC through edibles what does your study suggest? SPRINGER: It suggests they might be having an adverse, harmful effect on their cardiovascular system. If they’re eating THC, they’re not without risk. Axelrod swung the pendulum even further toward glorifying weed, citing the peanut brittle guy as happy with using it since he was in a motorcycle accident five years ago. “So, there’s a new study out, it shows a connection between cannabis use and cardiovascular disease,” Axelrod asked. The man replied: “It doesn’t surprise me. I go to my doctor and he says, jeez, quit drinking milk, stay away from sugar. You know, what — what is it bad for you nowadays?” Axelrod boasted in his conclusion: “Despite the warnings, these seniors are happy just the way they are: high and retiring.” Between, say, 2009 and 2016, CBS went through a period where it repeatedly celebrated pot and became infatuated with every nook and cranny of the drug infecting American society (versus only few examples of the perils of the drug like here, here, and here). Here ware a sampling of NewsBusters headlines from CBS’s years of obsession with weed, thanks in large part due to then-correspondent Barry Petersen: November 23, 2009: CBS Early Show Highlights Mom Giving Medical Marijuana to Autistic Son January 24, 2014: CBS Touts ‘Cannabis Capitalism’ and ‘Pot Tours’ That Cure the ‘Marijuana Munchies’ April 21, 2014: CBS Puffs Legalized Pot in Colorado, Touts the Best Marijuana: ‘Ghost Train Haze’ June 17, 2014: CBS Puffs Pot as an Empowerment Tool for Women: ‘Breaking the Grass Ceiling’ July 7, 2014: CBS, NBC Push Puff Pieces on Pot, Dream of ‘Light Up and Write Up’ Pulitzer Pot Prize July 9, 2014: CBS Returns to Puffing Pot: ‘High Times’ in Seattle October 27, 2014: CBS Continues Pot Push, Focuses on Marijuana ‘Miracle’ November 26, 2014: CBS Wishes Viewers a ‘Merry Marijuana’ and a ‘Happy Cannabis!’ March 30, 2015: Pot-Obsessed CBS Puffs: ‘Facebook for Stoners’ May 19, 2015: CBS This Morning Promotes ‘Pot Entrepreneurs’ In Colorado May 21, 2015: CBS Puffs the Joys of Pot: ‘Weed Pimps’ and Marijuana on the Radio June 8, 2015: CBS This Morning Touts ‘Celebrities Trying to Capitalize’ on Pot July 12, 2016: CBS Cheers Pot Legalization After Warning of Dangers In recent years, something must have changed as the rare mentions of pot being a cultural featured examples like this one from last year conceding legalization has done nothing to drive down the black market. To see the relevant CBS transcript from September 8, click here.

In a shocking development, a former New Jersey teacher has admitted to sexually assaulting two students, according to authorities.Julie Rizzitello, 37, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree sexual assault during a hearing held late last month before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Jill G. O’Malley. 'The actions of this former teacher represent a betrayal of trust, not only to the victims, but to the entire school community.'"An investigation involving members of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Special Victims Bureau and Wall Township Police Department — assisted by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Brick Township Police Department, and led by MCPO Detective Jose I. Rodriguez and Wall Township Police Detective Devin Corso — revealed that the criminal conduct by Rizzitello encompassed sex acts involving separate victims, taking place in three municipalities at various points over the course of several years," the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office stated in a press release last week.Superior Court Judge Marc C. Lemieux previously noted that Wall Township Public Schools Director of Human Resources Michael Scarano contacted the Wall Township Police Department to report an illicit relationship between Rizzitello and a student after a tip from a school district employee.Rizzitello — a former Wall Township High School teacher — was arrested without incident at her Brick Township home on July 3, 2024, according to the Coast Star.RELATED: She once was school 'counselor of the year.' Now she's accused of sexually assaulting student 100+ times, court docs say. A criminal complaint said Rizzitello was involved in a relationship with a student between May 18, 2024, and June 14, 2024.The relationship involved "oral and vaginal intercourse," according to a probable cause complaint.Rizzitello and the 18-year-old student had sexual contact in his car in Brick in May 2024, according to Fox News, which cited an NJ.com report that referenced an affidavit of probable cause. Officials said Rizzitello and the student also met at other locations, and she sent him nude photos, Fox News added.A second student allegedly came forward to authorities saying that he and Rizzitello had vaginal intercourse “at her residence in Brick Township" between Nov. 23, 2017, and Jan. 21, 2018. Fox News said the second victim was 17 at the time.During an interview with Det. Jose Rodriguez of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, the student reportedly provided pictures and text messages to corroborate the accusations. Sean O’Halloran — chief of the Wall Township Police Department — told the Coast Star, "The actions of this former teacher represent a betrayal of trust, not only to the victims, but to the entire school community.""I commend the courage of those who came forward and the dedication of our officers and partner agencies in bringing this case to justice," O'Halloran stated. "Protecting our youth is among our highest priority, and we will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that criminals are brought to justice to safeguard our residents and guests."Citing state pension records, the New York Post reported that Rizzitello was hired by the Wall Township Public Schools in 2013.Rizzitello is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 9, 2026. Prosecutors will pursue a 10-year prison sentence and require registration as a sex offender under Megan’s Law, parole supervision for life, and permanent forfeiture of public office, according to the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!