Trump wants death penalty for suspect in murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian woman, Musk pledges US$1m for murals featuring her

US President Donald Trump has called for the death penalty for Decarlos Brown Jr, a 34-year-old homeless man suspected of murdering 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte on 22 August.

Source: Trump on his social media platform Truth Social

Quote from Trump: "The ANIMAL who so violently killed the beautiful young lady from Ukraine, who came to America searching for peace and safety, should be given a ‘Quick’ (there is no doubt!) Trial and only awarded THE DEATH PENALTY. There can be no other option!!!"

Details: It has been widely reported that the American president is using the Ukrainian woman’s tragic death in his campaign against the Democrats. In an address to the nation on 9 September, Trump criticised Democrat policies, which he believes to be the cause of rising crime rates.

Meanwhile, American businessman Elon Musk has announced on X (formerly Twitter) that he will donate US$1 million to an initiative to paint murals depicting Zarutska.

As Ukrainian public broadcaster hromadske has noted, Irish tech entrepreneur and Intercom CEO Eoghan McCabe has put forward a proposal to create murals of Zarutska in prominent locations in US cities. McCabe is known in the media as a donor to Donald Trump's campaign and for calling for an investigation into the Irish media's coverage of migration.

Musk responded: "I will contribute $1 million."

In recent days, Elon Musk, conservative anglophone bloggers and White House representatives have been actively sharing posts about the murder of Iryna Zarutska and footage of the attack on her. Musk has repeatedly reposted tweets emphasising the "correlation between race and crime rates" (Iryna’s attacker was a black man) and criticising the media coverage of the murder.

Background:

• The tragedy occurred on the evening of 22 August at the East/West Boulevard train station in the South End neighbourhood of Charlotte. According to police, Iryna Zarutska suffered multiple stab wounds and died at the scene.
• The police have arrested a suspect in the murder of the Ukrainian woman –  Decarlos Brown Jr, a 34-year-old homeless man. He was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and was later arrested and charged with first-degree murder.
• Brown already has a criminal record, having been arrested multiple times for theft, armed robbery and threats since 2011.

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