September 9, 2025 • 33 mins
Tune in here to this Tuesday's edition of Breaking With Brett Jensen!
Breaking Brett Jensen kicks the show off by talking about the newly filed federal charges in the murder of Iryna Zarutska and the emotional press conference held by U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson and the FBI
. Ferguson announced that the case would be supplemented with federal charges under a statute covering acts of violence on public transit—an unusual but serious move intended to send a clear message. He spoke about the impact of the crime on Charlotte’s public safety and the emotional conversation he had with Zarutska’s family, who had fled Ukraine for a better life. Ferguson made it clear: this case isn’t about politics—it’s about justice and restoring safety to a shaken community. The maximum penalty could be life without parole or the death penalty
Later, Jensen is joined by Congressman Tim Moore to discuss the shocking murder of Iryna Zarutska and the legislative action he's taking in response. Representing parts of Mecklenburg County — including the area Zarutska called home — Moore expresses outrage over the magistrate judge’s decision to grant the suspect an unsecured bond, allowing him back on the streets. Moore outlines a newly introduced bill, co-sponsored with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, that would allow federal funds to be withheld from cities or states with dangerous bail reform policies
Listen here for all of this and more on Breaking With Brett Jensen.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Hi oh, Let's go oh, Let's go oh, Let's go oh.
Let's conduce talk eleven ten and ninety nine three WBT
Brett Jensen here with you on a very crazy active
Tuesday edition of Breaking with Brett Jenson. I need a
two hour show tonight. I need a three hour show tonight,
(00:43):
but I've got one hour, and we're gonna cram as
much into this one hour as humanly possible. Seven oh
four or five seven eleven ten is the telephone number,
as well as the WBT TX text line driven by
Liberty Buick gmc okay. I just returned from the US
Attorney's office where Russ fur Ruguson, the US Attorney for
Western North Carolina, held a press conference with a high
(01:05):
ranking official of the FBI for North Carolina. And I'm
just going to let you hear it, and then you're
going to hear some of the questions and the responses afterwards.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I'm here with Jim Barnacle, who's the Special Agent in
charge of FBI Charlotte, which covers all of North Carolina.
He and I just got off the phone with the
family of Arena Zarutzka. Spoke with her mother, spoke with
her uncle had a very touching call with them. Our
hearts go out to Arena's family. They are suffering like
(01:40):
any of us would be. It was a very touching call.
Our hearts go out to them. She is a refugee.
She literally came to the United States from a bomb
shelter in Ukraine to escape the war. And she was
going about her day. She was coming home from work
on a light rail train, like all of us do
all the time, and she was brutal murdered. As a
(02:02):
native of Charlotte, I'm so sad to say that our
city has gotten to this place. I was born here,
I grew up here. I remember when the light rail
was built. I remember the development is spurred. I remember
the excitement. And to think now that you can't even
feel comfortable riding that train hits me deep. The light
(02:23):
rail brought this city access to jobs, access to education.
People could take the train to college. It really put
Charlotte on the map, and this incident has really really
injured that now. Carlos Brown Junior, who we allege stabbed
Erna Sarutska, is in state custody on first degree murder charges.
(02:45):
But I'm here today to announce that we're going to
supplement those state charges with federal charges. These federal charges
will go alongside the murder case and state court, and
we hope that they will insure justice for Erna, for
her family, and for the whole Charlotte community. The charge
we are bringing is in Title eighteen, which is the
Criminal Code. It's section nineteen ninety two A seven, which
(03:06):
is the law that Congress passed really for this situation.
It is an act of violence on a mass transportation system.
It is a law that is there because acts like
this affect the American way. It affects our daily life.
It is random acts on a train that are the
thoroughbred and how we get through our cities to work
to or places of education, to our families. It is
(03:27):
our way of American life. Crime makes people stop taking
that light rail, that give up those opportunities, and we
are here to be sure that we can save our
city and bring those opportunities back. The maximum penalty for
this federal crime is life in prison without parole or
the death penalty. Of course, each individual case receives its
own sentencing hearing by a federal judge that will decide
(03:48):
the sentence based on the individual factors in this case.
Of course, at this point we're only making allegations. We
do have a charge. We filed a criminal complaint. It
has been signed by a federal judge. The charges have
been brought, but they are just charge getting there has
been a process. I want to thank the FBI, which
has an incredible team that has investigated this case. They've
been sure we had a basis for federal charges. I
(04:10):
want to thank the Charlotte Mackiburgh Police Department that started
this investigation, apprehended the defendant immediately after the incident happened
at the light rail station, and I want to thank
the District Attorney's office and Spencer Meriweather who brought first
degree murder charges right away when this happened. I think
everyone knows the facts of this case, but I will
briefly recitate what is in our criminal complaint. Surveillance video
(04:33):
shows Arena Zarutska getting on the train by herself in
her work uniform, sitting down by herself in a row
that just happened to be in front of the Carlos
Brown Junior. Approximately four minutes later, mister Brown pulled out
a pocket knife. You see him on video open that
pocket knife, and he stabbed her three times in the neck.
(04:53):
He then walked off the train with blood dripping from
the knife. This is obviously a horrible, horrible situation, but
this is why federal statutes exist. They exist to take
care of situations like this, because no one should sit
in fear when they sit on the light rail. If
you sit in fear on the light rail, you sit
in fear when you walk around the streets of our
(05:14):
center city like I do every day. You sit in
fear when you go to our parks, like I do
with my daughter every weekend. You sit in fear at
our sporting events, our entertainment venues, at concerts, at restaurants,
at our museums. These are all the things that we've
worked as a city so hard to build. We built
this city. Companies have come here in droves. More than
one hundred and fifty people move here every day. We
(05:35):
built a city that people want to live in. But
we can lose that all if we allow violent crime
like this to go on in our streets. And I'm
here to tell you the federal government is going to
save our city from that. Before we take questions, I
want to add one thing that I hope the family
won't mind me sharing. But after Arena's death, the embassy
in Ukraine called and said, we'll help you bring her home,
(05:57):
and her family said no. They said she loved a
maryor we're gonna bury her here. So I think we
can give her in America to be proud of. As
mister Barnacle said, something here is broken and we're here
to fix it. We're happy to take your questions right right.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, yeah, In terms of sticking with the family, can
you just talk a little bit more about that conversation
because Queer was emotional for you, so can we talk
about that conversation. What was the family's reaction to the
new charges and because not a lot of people have
actually spoken to the family, so you can you can
talk in a world off the conversation.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Sure, And we were both there for the conversation, so
you can add what you want. It was a very
heavy conversation. We talked to her mother, we talked to
her uncle. Her mother speaks very little English. We had
a translator from the FBI there, and they wanted to
talk about their daughter. Uh huh, that's that's what we
talked about. Parts King very quickly after the state side.
(06:51):
I just wonder why it took this office two weeks
to do one.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Federal account here.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Well, federal charges are usually slower, the federal charge than
state charges to begin with. I mean, the federal system
is the first line of defense. They charge our violent crimes,
our murders, are things like that. The federal system is
really for repeat offenders, the worst of the worst. And
in reality, the fact pattern here screams of a state crime.
I mean, there was no gun used here, this was
(07:18):
a knife case. There really is not a natural federal
crime here. The federal crime we have is because it
happened on a light rail system and because Congress has
decided that that is essential to society. So we took
the time to find that statute, do some research on
that statute, make sure that we had the allegations and
the facts to support that statute. And like most of
(07:40):
our cases, we make sure our cases are pretty air
tight before we bring them. And this was actually quite
fast for us. We will sit on cases for months
sometimes to make sure that we are successful once we
bring them.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Should people feel safe on public.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Transit in Charlotte right now? I don't know I can't
answer that question. I can tell you that it's my
goal for people to feel safe on the light rail.
I think it's essential to life in our city that
people seel safe there. I hope that one day everyone
feels safe writing light rail. Right now, I think we
need to see changes before people are going to feel
safe on light rail.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
This our national attention. As you know, both of your
bosses got and follow us last night publicly about it.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
I'm curious, what do you say to your people.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You see what's happening here today and wonder if this
is political rand standing here. Yeah, I don't see how
you would see this case as political grandstanding. And if
you do, I think you should have the conversation that
we just had with Arena's family, because there's nothing political
about that. This is a heinous crime and we are
going to remedy it. I don't know what the politics
(08:41):
is here. If this was a political grandstand, there would
be an opposite side to this. Is the opposite side.
Let's allow murders on our light rail is the opposite side.
Let's let people out of state prison so they can
commit other crimes. There's no other side of this. There's
no politics to this. This is a pure and simple
federal case.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
To be sure, Yeah, I don't think anyone can debate
that this woman was violently murdered on a train. Director
Patel has changed the priorities of the FBI to address
violent crime, the scurge to our cities in our country
(09:19):
by cartels, by transnational criminal organizations, and by local streakingcs.
We have put resources to those matters. We anticipate more
and more cases to be charged across North Carolina into
a violent crime space. We're committed to working this. This
is a priority from Washington and I'm not afraid to
(09:42):
say that. And Director Patel will get up there and
I wish he could be here today. I'm sure he
does too to share the priorities of the FBI. Our
job is to conduct investigations. Our job is to put
people in handcuffs and turn them over to prosecutor to prosecute.
And that's what we're going to do. That's what I
(10:03):
have two hundred ages in the state working full time
to keep our streets safe.
Speaker 6 (10:07):
And currently in any way with obviously that's happening with
the state as well. There are at least have been
concerns about as mental company in the past claimed the
statements that you made as well. When that happen concurrently
or on separate tracks dealing with the federal and state art.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, so it's and obviously we want this case to
go as fast as possible to bring justice for the
victims family. That is most likely going to be separate
tracks because the state system and federal system have different standards,
different legal standards, different processes they go through. I've called
the district attorney about this case. We're going to work
out the best way for the victims to get this
to go forward. Whether that's federal going first, state going first,
(10:44):
some sort of parallel pass, We'll have to figure it out.
But there definitely challenges that. And generally when we bring
a federal charge, the state charges are dropped. But this
is a case where we have a first degree murder
charge and we're supplementing with a federal charge, which I
think tells you a little bit about the state system
that we can't trust that a first agree murder charge
is going to take someone off the streets for as
long as we need them off the streets. We have
(11:05):
to supplement with a federal charge.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
So that is us Attorney for Western North Carolina, Russ Ferguson,
who held a press conference earlier today in conjunction with
the FBI, talking about federal charges against the man that
brutally and fatally stabbed Irena Zaruska on the light rail
two and a.
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Half weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Okay, So when we come back, I'll go over a
lot of other things that have happened over the last
twenty four since last we spoke, and then coming up
at six point thirty, US Congressman Tim Moore.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
WI will join us.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
He introduced a brand new bill on the floor last night,
and then later on the Fraternal Order of Police President
Daniel Redford, Welcome back to breaking Regret Jensen on this
really busy Tuesday night.
Speaker 7 (11:49):
So tonight is election night.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
You've got about an hour and five minutes to vote
and this primary. If you're unaffiliated and you feel like
you want to vote in the mayoral race as well
as the at large race, now's your time to do it.
And if you're a Republican and you live in District six,
you can vote between Christo McCary and Sari Chakra And
you've got about an hour and like I said, hour
(12:12):
and five minutes to do that as well, and we'll
have all the results.
Speaker 7 (12:15):
About all that stuff tonight.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And by the way, if there is a major upset tonight,
we may be you know, I may be joining you know,
TJ Ritchie or maybe something immediately thereafter to talk about
what's going on. So just sort of stick around and
follow me on Twitter and I'll be posting results. And
if something major happens, like mayor BI laws is defeated,
(12:37):
I will try to be coming on air to talk
about it immediately.
Speaker 7 (12:41):
All right, So the arena zariska stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Last night after I left you, guys like Cash Mattel,
the director of the FBI said, we've been investigating this
basically from day one. They confirm that today and then
they said we're gonna invest And then you had the
head of the Department of Transportation say, hey, we're now
investigating the city of show Up because it's involved the
light rail and the transit system and are they keeping
people safe?
Speaker 7 (13:03):
Why would we give Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Six billion dollars to help expand the light rail if
they can't even protect what they've got. So then you
have the North count of State Auditor come out today.
Dave Ballock and say we're going to investigate the transit
system and what's going on and what's not being used
to protect the transit system on things that are supposed
to be used to protect the transit system.
Speaker 7 (13:24):
You've got that going.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Like you had the DOJ, the FBI, and you know what,
CMPD is still doing what they're doing. I mean a
lot of things going on concerning this Arena Zariska situation.
And again I keep getting this over and over and
over again, Brett. Why is it taken so long for
the national media to pick up on this. I don't
(13:47):
know the explicit reason. There's no excuse for the local leaders,
local state senators who represent this, represent parts of Mecklamer County.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
What'son.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Bradley made a statement today. It only took her eighteen days,
and she says she's a victim of violence. You would
think that she'd want to do something pretty quickly, but
the Democrats probably told her to be quiet and keep
your mouth shut, so she did until today until it
became prudent for state leaders to talk about it. Josh
Stein and Jeff Jackson finally came out yesterday and they
were talking about it.
Speaker 7 (14:18):
Seventeen days after the fact. I don't know, but the
video was released Friday.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
If you want a story to be hidden and not
get much attention, release it on a Friday.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
That's the old PR trick. Well, guess what.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
It took a couple of days, a little bit, and
then Donald Trump was walking into the US Open when
a reporter said, hey, have you seen the video of
the big murder in Charlotte where a young girl was
killed from Ukraine? And he's like, no, I haven't, but
I promise you by tomorrow I will have seen it
and I'll be up to speed. And then Monday morning
Donald Trump started talking about it. But that Sunday a
(14:56):
lot of the media outlets on social media and YouTube
and everyone, well, it's picked up on it because of
that question, and ever since then, it's exploded like wildfire,
and everyone is discussing it as a matter of fact.
Tomorrow Michael Wattley, who's running for the North Carolina who's
running for Senate to represent North Carolina, will be joining
me tomorrow evening. All right, so we've got a lot
(15:16):
going on. But that's what happened. Video released on Friday.
Trump finally hears about it on Sunday, speaks about it
on Monday, and then all hell breaks loose nationally. I
understand the national people not getting it. There's zero point
zero excuses for the local leaders. By the way, your
mayor Vylaws has refused to do a press conference, just
so you know, has refused to talk to the media
(15:38):
about it. She will only release statements. And there's a
lot of theories as to why she won't meet with
the media, and you know, maybe she will get lost.
Like there's a lot of theories about this. So anyways,
a lot going on concerning the situation, and will continue
it when we return when we talk with US Congressman
Tim Moore, who represents parts of Mecklimburg County, including where
(15:58):
Zorena Urutsk is from.
Speaker 7 (16:00):
Excuse me, Arena Zaruska.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Is from News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine three.
WBT Bret Jensen here with continuing this Tuesday night edition
of Breaking with Brett Jensen as Arena Zaruska. Just way
more and more stuff just keeps coming out. More investigations,
state investigations, federal investigations.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
Just a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
And joining us now is Congressman Tim Moore, who represents
parts of Mecklinburg County in his district, the northern part
of Mecklinburg County where Arena Zaruska is from, as well
as parts of southern Mecklinburg County. So Congressman, first of all,
thank you for joining me tonight. And second of all,
last night on the House floor with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik,
the two of you introduced a new bill about violence.
(16:41):
Can you talk about that bill and give us the
nuts and bolts of it.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
So, what this bill does is if you have local
governments or states where the policy is to basically not
require cash, bill right in the answers of this just
painous murderer that killed this young lady who was I
will get into that. And but what this bill does
(17:05):
is it would basically allow with federal funds to be
withheld from states or from local governments where that is happening.
And I think that's a way that you can kind
of force this issue and you can make it so
that there's a risk and them continue to do this
kind of thing. The other thing that I'm looking at
(17:26):
that's not in this bill is actually trying to find
a way where at to find to hold in certain cases,
right in certain cases where're like this, where it's just
a no brainer. This guy should have not been given
an unscinned bond where somebody goes out and commits a crime,
where a judge who signed up on this could be
held personally lib in a civil manner. Uh. No, different
(17:49):
than someone goes to a bar and they get served
too much alcohol and then they go out and have
a wret and kill somebody. You know that that bar
owner can be held lible looking at that. That's something
thing that I that I think we ought to do
because there needs to be there need to be some
consequences for such reckless action of turning dangerous criminals loose
(18:10):
like this on the streets to be able to terrorize
and kill people of our community.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Speaking with Congressman Tim Moore, So, Congressman also saw you
post something on x about going after the magistrate judge
that allowed this man to want the streets of Charlotte.
Speaker 7 (18:26):
Can you talk about that.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Yes, that's correct, I tell you the h wow. Yeah,
I'm just I'm at a loss for why this person
was in this job. If this is the kind of
decision they're being made, and I'm going to mean, I don't.
I bet you this. I bet you that if you
go back and look at other rulings that this particular
magistrate judge has done on bonds, you will see this
(18:50):
is not an isolated instant of letting a repeat criminal
out over and over again on an unsecured bond. I mean,
that is just so rageous and not even looking at
like you know, I mean, there are other tools that
can have happened. And this guy could have been involuntarily
committed right if there was a thought that he had
a mental illness, which I've heard that talk about, Well,
(19:11):
then that's why we have facilities, right lots, facilities where
folks like this are sent so they can't get out
un kill people. That wasn't done. You know, the basics
of just keeping him in jail wasn't done. It was
a total failure. And how someone could allow that to happen,
could just release someone like this, it's not it's not
(19:33):
even malpractice, it's I don't know what the standard is.
It's the most gross in confidence and negligence that I've
ever seen in anything like this. And and someone who's
going to have going to be doing that does not
deserve to be in any kind of judicial.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Law speak of a Congressman Tim More, Sir, I'm just
going to give you the floor and let you say
whatever it is you want to say about this particular situation.
Speaker 7 (19:58):
The light rail, the city is show the young girl.
Anything that you want to talk about, The floor is yours.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
You know, I don't have the words. And I saw
the first video that was out there that was released
of what was there, and then of course I say,
what you freezes where he's about to stabber and you've
now seen the video where where he stabs her and
(20:25):
then where she just you know, slumps over, the look
of tear of fear and tear in her eyes as
she falls over and dies. And this guy just kind
of like nothing else. And what always strikes me is
when folks want to try to descend a criminal like this, right,
and you see that from the left all the time.
If you look at a lot of the initiatives from
(20:47):
folks on the left, you look at when Governor Cooper
was still in office, the executive Wheder, he signed the
team that he put together that was looking about always
about you not not penalizing people based on race and
all this guy trying to make it a racial issue
about criminals, criminal defendants who happen to be of a
particular race or not give me a break. If someone
(21:07):
is a criminal, I don't care what core they are.
They need to be punished. And and if you don't
have it, people are going to get killed and and
and you had this hyper focus of this sensitivity training
and of this you know, I don't even know what
to call this loocusm And that's what's led to this,
you know, I mean, think about for the homeless situation
(21:30):
where folks are just allowed to kind of just roam
around and do whatever. I'm talking to you right now
in Washington, d C. And the difference between the way
it was when I first came here in January and
the way it is today since President Trump has you know,
has sent sent in Federal National Guard to enforce these laws,
(21:50):
to get rid of these encampments, to to do what
needs to be done. It's different. I mean, it's a say,
it's a safer place, and this is not that hard.
I mean, I grew up in there, I grew up
in this region, and I remember a time not that
long ago when we didn't have these kinds of issues.
And Charlotte is an amazing this is an amazing region.
(22:11):
There's a reason it's one of the fastest going areas
in the country. I believe that, you know, the you know,
the White Rail is a great thing. I mean, I
think it's gonna help help do a lot with you know,
with economic development and stuff forth. But but if people
don't feel safe, they're they're not going to run it,
They're not going to support a referendum to expand it.
I mean, I mean, there's a lot of things to play.
(22:33):
There's a million thoughts running through my minds. You can
tell I'm not on the script on this, and just
I just but the bigger problem is not about White Rail.
It's not about any of this stuff. What it's about
it's about the fact that we have a judicial system
and we have we have we have officials therein like
this particular master judge, who are simply just letting criminals walk.
(22:58):
And and you know what, this young lady died and
I met if we started going there and look at
your seat. And I do know this to be a fact.
If you look at crimes that areted, you look at
a lot of crimes that are committed, whether it's shootings,
whether it's drugs. We know the game problems that we
have a roll around this country. Most of the offenders
are repeat offenders. And guess what, Brett, if they were
(23:21):
not on the street, if they were in jail, they
would not be offended. So don't give me this craft
about we can't afford the house. Criminally, we can't afford
to lock them up. Look, we can't afford not to.
So you know, there's a there's a lot, there's a
lot that can be said about this. My heart just
goes out to this young lady and her family. I mean,
think how tried it? Though she fled you plane, I'm nicky,
(23:44):
you prain, I've seen she fled you, prane looking for
a safe place. She was here, she went, she had
a job, she was going on from a job, and
stacked from behind by his animal. I mean, this is
just so bad. This guy should have never been on
the student. He should have been in jail, in the
(24:04):
closet place, and he should have been he should have
been held uh without body or that charge ahead pending
more than just words. I want the people to know
that we're taking action. I want them to know that
one is I'm co sponsoring legislation with the Least to
find It that will allow federal funds to be with
held from communities that that that allowed us to happen.
(24:26):
And two, we are looking at legislation to hold judicial
officials to release folks like this back commit crimes. Uh,
it just cases of just gross negligves. Look at ways
to find them personally responsible and liable. Maybe those are
some changes that that will help out. And at the
end of the day, this has got to be a
(24:47):
wake up call. It's got to be a wake up call.
Things have to change.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Congressman Moore, I know you're a very, very busy individual,
and I really do appreciate you joining us tonight.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Thank you Direct.
Speaker 7 (25:00):
It's top eleven, ten.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And ninety nine three WBT Brett Jensen here with you
on this really really busy Tuesday night edition of Breaking
with Brett Jenson. Okay, the Charlotte Fraternal Order Police, they
put out a statement yesterday. I tweeted about that particular
statement and now I've got a couple hundred thousand views
on it. That's why I always tell you to follow
me on except Bret underscore Jensen, but joining US now
is the head of Fraternal Order Police, Daniel Redford. So,
(25:24):
first of all, Daniel, thank you for joining us tonight.
And second of all, over the last twenty four hours,
that post that you put out there, has really gained
a lot of national attention.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
Can you talk about that.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
You know, it's been interesting, you know, and I'm glad
that I'm glad that this case has still been in
the news. You know, I mean this, this lady, you know,
flees a war torn country to come to Charlotte for
a better life. You know, she gets killed only months afterwards.
So you know, this is this is the story that
needs to remain in the headlines because it's something that
(25:56):
you know, hopefully we're able to use to get some
legislation or get you know, our elected officials eyes to
open up to see the reality of the dangers of
crime and bond policies, uh and and everything else that
we have going on here in Mecklenburg County. You know,
it's glad that I'm glad that it's getting the attention.
(26:17):
Frustrating that we have a mayor who you know, releases
a horrible statement on this and that in itself has
attracted a lot of attention. And and we've just capitalized
on that because you know, this, this poor young lady's
death should not be used to score political points, should
(26:37):
not be used to try to be a stepping stone
for a re election, you know, as as our local
city council members are, you know, facing the last day
of voting for primaries here.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
You know, it's it's been amazing to see the attention
paid towards this because of the brutality of this incident.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
And and the fact that this young lady needs justice,
family needs justice. And there's so many others in the
in Mecklenburg County, you know that that need justice as well,
because of the failures of our court systems that allow
these offenders to get back out and remain on our streets.
The judges who rule on emotion or politics versus what
the actual rule of law is. Uh. In our in
(27:19):
our district attorney's office, who allow violent offenders to get
sweetheart plea deals or or just in cases time and
time again. It's it's a it's a continuous story.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
And it's and I'm glad that it's finally getting the
attention that it meets and deserves.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Speak with Daniel Redford, the president of the Charlotte Fraternal
Order of Police. When you talk to your members, like
maybe after a meeting and you're just you know, shooting
the breeze with some of your members, is there ever
like frustration that is vented by some of the members
of the Fraternal Order Police about we keep arresting people
and they keep going and getting put back on the streets.
Is there ever a point where maybe they just say,
(27:57):
what's the point?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (27:58):
But that is a daily occurrence. Yeah, it's it's absolutely
frustrating and mean because, you know, because the officers not
just in Charlotte, but across this country, you know who
who are experiencing policies that are similar to what we
have here in the Charlotte area. They're frustrated. And again
that is a common thing that comes up, is what's
the point? Right? Why am I going to continue to
(28:19):
go out here and put violent people and risk my
lives and potentially you know, take a father or a
mother away from my children, you know, or you know,
my spouse, you know, get the news that I didn't
make at home. Because of the dangers that are seen
in experienced from law enforcement, especially in larger cities, in
the cities in which criminals aren't held accountable, like Charlotte.
(28:42):
It's frustrating because they do these hard they do this
hard work. They go out there and they put so
much time and effort into making sure that the bad
guy is put away, and then by the end of
the shift that persons sometimes back out on the streets again.
It's frustrating, but you know that's when that's when you know,
officers go back and they reflect on why it is
(29:04):
that they became a police officer, and that is to
help others to put personal opinions or politics, or religion
or personal beliefs aside and focus on the job that
it is that you are hired and expected to do.
And that's where the passion of being a law enforcement
officer comes back into play. So, you know, it's personally
(29:25):
frustrating because of the amount of time that's taken away,
you know, from our families as police officers. But you know,
it's a job that we know that that's what is expected.
It's this job that we love doing, and you know,
the frustration has come with it. But unfortunately, it just
seems to be a repeating type of situation. Here where
(29:46):
it's not just a one office, it's it's a kind
of thing.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
You know.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Brown is not the only defendant who has been out
on pre trial release that has killed somebody or violently
injured somebody. He's one of many in Charlotte that has
been out of you know, out of jail awaiting charges
and has committed another violent attack. So, uh, you know,
for for Byliles to sit back and say we need
bipartisan support, you know, I mean she needs to look
(30:13):
in the mirror because her party is the one that's
in power in Charlotte. There's what two Republicans on all
of city council. You know, our our sheriff as a
registered Democrat. A lot of the police leadership that that's
Charlotte Police Department, you know, are registered Democrats or independent.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
You know, so this isn't a Democrat or Republican or
independent or this isn't a bipartisan issue. This is a
safety issue. This is a common sense issue. For her
to try to be politics and I think this is
a leader and the mayor she is because it's a
cop out, it's you know, it means nothing. We had
times at the Charlotte Transit Center this year and a
(30:53):
man was almost beaten to death on a cats bus
and that's just been in this year. Where in the
hell with her frustration at them, where was her initiative
to go out and try and make the transit systems safer?
Then why is it now right because today is the
last day of primaries, she's facing an opponent. I'm sure
(31:14):
she's nervous. She wants to beat the opponent so she
can remain in power. But I think we've had enough
of the failed policies of not just Byliles, but several
within city council, who have allowed this stuff to happen,
who have emboldened criminals to go out and say that,
you know, this thing never should have happened because this
guy had a mental health issue. Is absolutely the dumbest
(31:36):
thing I've ever heard in a response from anybody in
an elected position, but from our city leadership, who failed
to stand up in front of a camera or stand
in front of a of a you know, a of
the media and call this crap out like they're so
because it's not politically puffy. So that's the frustrating part
(31:57):
is that our leadership is they don't have the backbone
to go out there and call out violence. I don't
think that Democrats or Republicans alike are going to disagree
with somebody who goes out and speaks against violence in
our streets. That our mayor has not said a damn
word about anything up until this point is absolutely frustrating.
(32:19):
And but she she's got to get the hell out
of here. She's ruining the city. It's not just her specifically,
but it's her policy and her beliefs that are ruining
this city. And for anybody that lives in Uptown, which
was a beautiful place to go to in Charlotte, and
have to step over homeless people all the time, shows
you just how bad the city is falling into the cline.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Daniel Reford, President of the Charlotte Mecklenburg in Fraternal Order, Please,
I know you've been a very busy man with the
last twenty four hours doing a lot of national interviews,
so I appreciate you taking the time to talk with
us tonight now.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Brett, I appreciate you as well, And I'm, like I said,
I'm glad that this is getting the getting to continued
coverage because this poor lady that you know, Arena did not.
She didn't deserve this. Nobody in our and nobody in
our our in our city deserves the violence. But you know,
until until we have elected leaders that actually have a
backbone to stand up and call it out, you know,
(33:11):
nothing's going to change, and you know the pressure is
is hopefully what's going to be that call to action.
So again, Brett, I always appreciate every every time you
reach out to me. So it's always a pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
All Right, everyone that's going to do it for us
tonight once again thanks to Congressman Tim Moore as well
as FOP President Daniel Reford. Major major show again tomorrow
night as Michael Wattley, who's running for US Senate, joins
me to talk about this situation. My name is Brett Jensen,
and you have been listening to Breaking with Brett Jensen.
Hi oh, Let's go oh, Let's go oh, Let's go oh.
Let's conduce talk eleven ten and ninety nine three WBT
Brett Jensen here with you on a very crazy active
Tuesday edition of Breaking with Brett Jenson. I need a
two hour show tonight. I need a three hour show tonight,
(00:43):
but I've got one hour, and we're gonna cram as
much into this one hour as humanly possible. Seven oh
four or five seven eleven ten is the telephone number,
as well as the WBT TX text line driven by
Liberty Buick gmc okay. I just returned from the US
Attorney's office where Russ fur Ruguson, the US Attorney for
Western North Carolina, held a press conference with a high
(01:05):
ranking official of the FBI for North Carolina. And I'm
just going to let you hear it, and then you're
going to hear some of the questions and the responses afterwards.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
I'm here with Jim Barnacle, who's the Special Agent in
charge of FBI Charlotte, which covers all of North Carolina.
He and I just got off the phone with the
family of Arena Zarutzka. Spoke with her mother, spoke with
her uncle had a very touching call with them. Our
hearts go out to Arena's family. They are suffering like
(01:40):
any of us would be. It was a very touching call.
Our hearts go out to them. She is a refugee.
She literally came to the United States from a bomb
shelter in Ukraine to escape the war. And she was
going about her day. She was coming home from work
on a light rail train, like all of us do
all the time, and she was brutal murdered. As a
(02:02):
native of Charlotte, I'm so sad to say that our
city has gotten to this place. I was born here,
I grew up here. I remember when the light rail
was built. I remember the development is spurred. I remember
the excitement. And to think now that you can't even
feel comfortable riding that train hits me deep. The light
(02:23):
rail brought this city access to jobs, access to education.
People could take the train to college. It really put
Charlotte on the map, and this incident has really really
injured that now. Carlos Brown Junior, who we allege stabbed
Erna Sarutska, is in state custody on first degree murder charges.
(02:45):
But I'm here today to announce that we're going to
supplement those state charges with federal charges. These federal charges
will go alongside the murder case and state court, and
we hope that they will insure justice for Erna, for
her family, and for the whole Charlotte community. The charge
we are bringing is in Title eighteen, which is the
Criminal Code. It's section nineteen ninety two A seven, which
(03:06):
is the law that Congress passed really for this situation.
It is an act of violence on a mass transportation system.
It is a law that is there because acts like
this affect the American way. It affects our daily life.
It is random acts on a train that are the
thoroughbred and how we get through our cities to work
to or places of education, to our families. It is
(03:27):
our way of American life. Crime makes people stop taking
that light rail, that give up those opportunities, and we
are here to be sure that we can save our
city and bring those opportunities back. The maximum penalty for
this federal crime is life in prison without parole or
the death penalty. Of course, each individual case receives its
own sentencing hearing by a federal judge that will decide
(03:48):
the sentence based on the individual factors in this case.
Of course, at this point we're only making allegations. We
do have a charge. We filed a criminal complaint. It
has been signed by a federal judge. The charges have
been brought, but they are just charge getting there has
been a process. I want to thank the FBI, which
has an incredible team that has investigated this case. They've
been sure we had a basis for federal charges. I
(04:10):
want to thank the Charlotte Mackiburgh Police Department that started
this investigation, apprehended the defendant immediately after the incident happened
at the light rail station, and I want to thank
the District Attorney's office and Spencer Meriweather who brought first
degree murder charges right away when this happened. I think
everyone knows the facts of this case, but I will
briefly recitate what is in our criminal complaint. Surveillance video
(04:33):
shows Arena Zarutska getting on the train by herself in
her work uniform, sitting down by herself in a row
that just happened to be in front of the Carlos
Brown Junior. Approximately four minutes later, mister Brown pulled out
a pocket knife. You see him on video open that
pocket knife, and he stabbed her three times in the neck.
(04:53):
He then walked off the train with blood dripping from
the knife. This is obviously a horrible, horrible situation, but
this is why federal statutes exist. They exist to take
care of situations like this, because no one should sit
in fear when they sit on the light rail. If
you sit in fear on the light rail, you sit
in fear when you walk around the streets of our
(05:14):
center city like I do every day. You sit in
fear when you go to our parks, like I do
with my daughter every weekend. You sit in fear at
our sporting events, our entertainment venues, at concerts, at restaurants,
at our museums. These are all the things that we've
worked as a city so hard to build. We built
this city. Companies have come here in droves. More than
one hundred and fifty people move here every day. We
(05:35):
built a city that people want to live in. But
we can lose that all if we allow violent crime
like this to go on in our streets. And I'm
here to tell you the federal government is going to
save our city from that. Before we take questions, I
want to add one thing that I hope the family
won't mind me sharing. But after Arena's death, the embassy
in Ukraine called and said, we'll help you bring her home,
(05:57):
and her family said no. They said she loved a
maryor we're gonna bury her here. So I think we
can give her in America to be proud of. As
mister Barnacle said, something here is broken and we're here
to fix it. We're happy to take your questions right right.
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Yeah, yeah, In terms of sticking with the family, can
you just talk a little bit more about that conversation
because Queer was emotional for you, so can we talk
about that conversation. What was the family's reaction to the
new charges and because not a lot of people have
actually spoken to the family, so you can you can
talk in a world off the conversation.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Sure, And we were both there for the conversation, so
you can add what you want. It was a very
heavy conversation. We talked to her mother, we talked to
her uncle. Her mother speaks very little English. We had
a translator from the FBI there, and they wanted to
talk about their daughter. Uh huh, that's that's what we
talked about. Parts King very quickly after the state side.
(06:51):
I just wonder why it took this office two weeks
to do one.
Speaker 4 (06:55):
Federal account here.
Speaker 5 (06:57):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:57):
Well, federal charges are usually slower, the federal charge than
state charges to begin with. I mean, the federal system
is the first line of defense. They charge our violent crimes,
our murders, are things like that. The federal system is
really for repeat offenders, the worst of the worst. And
in reality, the fact pattern here screams of a state crime.
I mean, there was no gun used here, this was
(07:18):
a knife case. There really is not a natural federal
crime here. The federal crime we have is because it
happened on a light rail system and because Congress has
decided that that is essential to society. So we took
the time to find that statute, do some research on
that statute, make sure that we had the allegations and
the facts to support that statute. And like most of
(07:40):
our cases, we make sure our cases are pretty air
tight before we bring them. And this was actually quite
fast for us. We will sit on cases for months
sometimes to make sure that we are successful once we
bring them.
Speaker 6 (07:50):
Should people feel safe on public.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
Transit in Charlotte right now? I don't know I can't
answer that question. I can tell you that it's my
goal for people to feel safe on the light rail.
I think it's essential to life in our city that
people seel safe there. I hope that one day everyone
feels safe writing light rail. Right now, I think we
need to see changes before people are going to feel
safe on light rail.
Speaker 3 (08:12):
This our national attention. As you know, both of your
bosses got and follow us last night publicly about it.
Speaker 7 (08:18):
I'm curious, what do you say to your people.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
You see what's happening here today and wonder if this
is political rand standing here. Yeah, I don't see how
you would see this case as political grandstanding. And if
you do, I think you should have the conversation that
we just had with Arena's family, because there's nothing political
about that. This is a heinous crime and we are
going to remedy it. I don't know what the politics
(08:41):
is here. If this was a political grandstand, there would
be an opposite side to this. Is the opposite side.
Let's allow murders on our light rail is the opposite side.
Let's let people out of state prison so they can
commit other crimes. There's no other side of this. There's
no politics to this. This is a pure and simple
federal case.
Speaker 8 (08:58):
To be sure, Yeah, I don't think anyone can debate
that this woman was violently murdered on a train. Director
Patel has changed the priorities of the FBI to address
violent crime, the scurge to our cities in our country
(09:19):
by cartels, by transnational criminal organizations, and by local streakingcs.
We have put resources to those matters. We anticipate more
and more cases to be charged across North Carolina into
a violent crime space. We're committed to working this. This
is a priority from Washington and I'm not afraid to
(09:42):
say that. And Director Patel will get up there and
I wish he could be here today. I'm sure he
does too to share the priorities of the FBI. Our
job is to conduct investigations. Our job is to put
people in handcuffs and turn them over to prosecutor to prosecute.
And that's what we're going to do. That's what I
(10:03):
have two hundred ages in the state working full time
to keep our streets safe.
Speaker 6 (10:07):
And currently in any way with obviously that's happening with
the state as well. There are at least have been
concerns about as mental company in the past claimed the
statements that you made as well. When that happen concurrently
or on separate tracks dealing with the federal and state art.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Yeah, so it's and obviously we want this case to
go as fast as possible to bring justice for the
victims family. That is most likely going to be separate
tracks because the state system and federal system have different standards,
different legal standards, different processes they go through. I've called
the district attorney about this case. We're going to work
out the best way for the victims to get this
to go forward. Whether that's federal going first, state going first,
(10:44):
some sort of parallel pass, We'll have to figure it out.
But there definitely challenges that. And generally when we bring
a federal charge, the state charges are dropped. But this
is a case where we have a first degree murder
charge and we're supplementing with a federal charge, which I
think tells you a little bit about the state system
that we can't trust that a first agree murder charge
is going to take someone off the streets for as
long as we need them off the streets. We have
(11:05):
to supplement with a federal charge.
Speaker 1 (11:07):
So that is us Attorney for Western North Carolina, Russ Ferguson,
who held a press conference earlier today in conjunction with
the FBI, talking about federal charges against the man that
brutally and fatally stabbed Irena Zaruska on the light rail
two and a.
Speaker 7 (11:21):
Half weeks ago.
Speaker 1 (11:22):
Okay, So when we come back, I'll go over a
lot of other things that have happened over the last
twenty four since last we spoke, and then coming up
at six point thirty, US Congressman Tim Moore.
Speaker 7 (11:32):
WI will join us.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
He introduced a brand new bill on the floor last night,
and then later on the Fraternal Order of Police President
Daniel Redford, Welcome back to breaking Regret Jensen on this
really busy Tuesday night.
Speaker 7 (11:49):
So tonight is election night.
Speaker 1 (11:51):
You've got about an hour and five minutes to vote
and this primary. If you're unaffiliated and you feel like
you want to vote in the mayoral race as well
as the at large race, now's your time to do it.
And if you're a Republican and you live in District six,
you can vote between Christo McCary and Sari Chakra And
you've got about an hour and like I said, hour
(12:12):
and five minutes to do that as well, and we'll
have all the results.
Speaker 7 (12:15):
About all that stuff tonight.
Speaker 1 (12:17):
And by the way, if there is a major upset tonight,
we may be you know, I may be joining you know,
TJ Ritchie or maybe something immediately thereafter to talk about
what's going on. So just sort of stick around and
follow me on Twitter and I'll be posting results. And
if something major happens, like mayor BI laws is defeated,
(12:37):
I will try to be coming on air to talk
about it immediately.
Speaker 7 (12:41):
All right, So the arena zariska stuff.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Last night after I left you, guys like Cash Mattel,
the director of the FBI said, we've been investigating this
basically from day one. They confirm that today and then
they said we're gonna invest And then you had the
head of the Department of Transportation say, hey, we're now
investigating the city of show Up because it's involved the
light rail and the transit system and are they keeping
people safe?
Speaker 7 (13:03):
Why would we give Charlotte.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Six billion dollars to help expand the light rail if
they can't even protect what they've got. So then you
have the North count of State Auditor come out today.
Dave Ballock and say we're going to investigate the transit
system and what's going on and what's not being used
to protect the transit system on things that are supposed
to be used to protect the transit system.
Speaker 7 (13:24):
You've got that going.
Speaker 1 (13:25):
Like you had the DOJ, the FBI, and you know what,
CMPD is still doing what they're doing. I mean a
lot of things going on concerning this Arena Zariska situation.
And again I keep getting this over and over and
over again, Brett. Why is it taken so long for
the national media to pick up on this. I don't
(13:47):
know the explicit reason. There's no excuse for the local leaders,
local state senators who represent this, represent parts of Mecklamer County.
Speaker 7 (13:59):
What'son.
Speaker 1 (13:59):
Bradley made a statement today. It only took her eighteen days,
and she says she's a victim of violence. You would
think that she'd want to do something pretty quickly, but
the Democrats probably told her to be quiet and keep
your mouth shut, so she did until today until it
became prudent for state leaders to talk about it. Josh
Stein and Jeff Jackson finally came out yesterday and they
were talking about it.
Speaker 7 (14:18):
Seventeen days after the fact. I don't know, but the
video was released Friday.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
If you want a story to be hidden and not
get much attention, release it on a Friday.
Speaker 7 (14:31):
That's the old PR trick. Well, guess what.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
It took a couple of days, a little bit, and
then Donald Trump was walking into the US Open when
a reporter said, hey, have you seen the video of
the big murder in Charlotte where a young girl was
killed from Ukraine? And he's like, no, I haven't, but
I promise you by tomorrow I will have seen it
and I'll be up to speed. And then Monday morning
Donald Trump started talking about it. But that Sunday a
(14:56):
lot of the media outlets on social media and YouTube
and everyone, well, it's picked up on it because of
that question, and ever since then, it's exploded like wildfire,
and everyone is discussing it as a matter of fact.
Tomorrow Michael Wattley, who's running for the North Carolina who's
running for Senate to represent North Carolina, will be joining
me tomorrow evening. All right, so we've got a lot
(15:16):
going on. But that's what happened. Video released on Friday.
Trump finally hears about it on Sunday, speaks about it
on Monday, and then all hell breaks loose nationally. I
understand the national people not getting it. There's zero point
zero excuses for the local leaders. By the way, your
mayor Vylaws has refused to do a press conference, just
so you know, has refused to talk to the media
(15:38):
about it. She will only release statements. And there's a
lot of theories as to why she won't meet with
the media, and you know, maybe she will get lost.
Like there's a lot of theories about this. So anyways,
a lot going on concerning the situation, and will continue
it when we return when we talk with US Congressman
Tim Moore, who represents parts of Mecklimburg County, including where
(15:58):
Zorena Urutsk is from.
Speaker 7 (16:00):
Excuse me, Arena Zaruska.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Is from News Talk eleven ten and ninety nine three.
WBT Bret Jensen here with continuing this Tuesday night edition
of Breaking with Brett Jensen as Arena Zaruska. Just way
more and more stuff just keeps coming out. More investigations,
state investigations, federal investigations.
Speaker 7 (16:18):
Just a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (16:19):
And joining us now is Congressman Tim Moore, who represents
parts of Mecklinburg County in his district, the northern part
of Mecklinburg County where Arena Zaruska is from, as well
as parts of southern Mecklinburg County. So Congressman, first of all,
thank you for joining me tonight. And second of all,
last night on the House floor with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik,
the two of you introduced a new bill about violence.
(16:41):
Can you talk about that bill and give us the
nuts and bolts of it.
Speaker 4 (16:45):
So, what this bill does is if you have local
governments or states where the policy is to basically not
require cash, bill right in the answers of this just
painous murderer that killed this young lady who was I
will get into that. And but what this bill does
(17:05):
is it would basically allow with federal funds to be
withheld from states or from local governments where that is happening.
And I think that's a way that you can kind
of force this issue and you can make it so
that there's a risk and them continue to do this
kind of thing. The other thing that I'm looking at
(17:26):
that's not in this bill is actually trying to find
a way where at to find to hold in certain cases,
right in certain cases where're like this, where it's just
a no brainer. This guy should have not been given
an unscinned bond where somebody goes out and commits a crime,
where a judge who signed up on this could be
held personally lib in a civil manner. Uh. No, different
(17:49):
than someone goes to a bar and they get served
too much alcohol and then they go out and have
a wret and kill somebody. You know that that bar
owner can be held lible looking at that. That's something
thing that I that I think we ought to do
because there needs to be there need to be some
consequences for such reckless action of turning dangerous criminals loose
(18:10):
like this on the streets to be able to terrorize
and kill people of our community.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
Speaking with Congressman Tim Moore, So, Congressman also saw you
post something on x about going after the magistrate judge
that allowed this man to want the streets of Charlotte.
Speaker 7 (18:26):
Can you talk about that.
Speaker 4 (18:28):
Yes, that's correct, I tell you the h wow. Yeah,
I'm just I'm at a loss for why this person
was in this job. If this is the kind of
decision they're being made, and I'm going to mean, I don't.
I bet you this. I bet you that if you
go back and look at other rulings that this particular
magistrate judge has done on bonds, you will see this
(18:50):
is not an isolated instant of letting a repeat criminal
out over and over again on an unsecured bond. I mean,
that is just so rageous and not even looking at
like you know, I mean, there are other tools that
can have happened. And this guy could have been involuntarily
committed right if there was a thought that he had
a mental illness, which I've heard that talk about, Well,
(19:11):
then that's why we have facilities, right lots, facilities where
folks like this are sent so they can't get out
un kill people. That wasn't done. You know, the basics
of just keeping him in jail wasn't done. It was
a total failure. And how someone could allow that to happen,
could just release someone like this, it's not it's not
(19:33):
even malpractice, it's I don't know what the standard is.
It's the most gross in confidence and negligence that I've
ever seen in anything like this. And and someone who's
going to have going to be doing that does not
deserve to be in any kind of judicial.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
Law speak of a Congressman Tim More, Sir, I'm just
going to give you the floor and let you say
whatever it is you want to say about this particular situation.
Speaker 7 (19:58):
The light rail, the city is show the young girl.
Anything that you want to talk about, The floor is yours.
Speaker 4 (20:05):
You know, I don't have the words. And I saw
the first video that was out there that was released
of what was there, and then of course I say,
what you freezes where he's about to stabber and you've
now seen the video where where he stabs her and
(20:25):
then where she just you know, slumps over, the look
of tear of fear and tear in her eyes as
she falls over and dies. And this guy just kind
of like nothing else. And what always strikes me is
when folks want to try to descend a criminal like this, right,
and you see that from the left all the time.
If you look at a lot of the initiatives from
(20:47):
folks on the left, you look at when Governor Cooper
was still in office, the executive Wheder, he signed the
team that he put together that was looking about always
about you not not penalizing people based on race and
all this guy trying to make it a racial issue
about criminals, criminal defendants who happen to be of a
particular race or not give me a break. If someone
(21:07):
is a criminal, I don't care what core they are.
They need to be punished. And and if you don't
have it, people are going to get killed and and
and you had this hyper focus of this sensitivity training
and of this you know, I don't even know what
to call this loocusm And that's what's led to this,
you know, I mean, think about for the homeless situation
(21:30):
where folks are just allowed to kind of just roam
around and do whatever. I'm talking to you right now
in Washington, d C. And the difference between the way
it was when I first came here in January and
the way it is today since President Trump has you know,
has sent sent in Federal National Guard to enforce these laws,
(21:50):
to get rid of these encampments, to to do what
needs to be done. It's different. I mean, it's a say,
it's a safer place, and this is not that hard.
I mean, I grew up in there, I grew up
in this region, and I remember a time not that
long ago when we didn't have these kinds of issues.
And Charlotte is an amazing this is an amazing region.
(22:11):
There's a reason it's one of the fastest going areas
in the country. I believe that, you know, the you know,
the White Rail is a great thing. I mean, I
think it's gonna help help do a lot with you know,
with economic development and stuff forth. But but if people
don't feel safe, they're they're not going to run it,
They're not going to support a referendum to expand it.
I mean, I mean, there's a lot of things to play.
(22:33):
There's a million thoughts running through my minds. You can
tell I'm not on the script on this, and just
I just but the bigger problem is not about White Rail.
It's not about any of this stuff. What it's about
it's about the fact that we have a judicial system
and we have we have we have officials therein like
this particular master judge, who are simply just letting criminals walk.
(22:58):
And and you know what, this young lady died and
I met if we started going there and look at
your seat. And I do know this to be a fact.
If you look at crimes that areted, you look at
a lot of crimes that are committed, whether it's shootings,
whether it's drugs. We know the game problems that we
have a roll around this country. Most of the offenders
are repeat offenders. And guess what, Brett, if they were
(23:21):
not on the street, if they were in jail, they
would not be offended. So don't give me this craft
about we can't afford the house. Criminally, we can't afford
to lock them up. Look, we can't afford not to.
So you know, there's a there's a lot, there's a
lot that can be said about this. My heart just
goes out to this young lady and her family. I mean,
think how tried it? Though she fled you plane, I'm nicky,
(23:44):
you prain, I've seen she fled you, prane looking for
a safe place. She was here, she went, she had
a job, she was going on from a job, and
stacked from behind by his animal. I mean, this is
just so bad. This guy should have never been on
the student. He should have been in jail, in the
(24:04):
closet place, and he should have been he should have
been held uh without body or that charge ahead pending
more than just words. I want the people to know
that we're taking action. I want them to know that
one is I'm co sponsoring legislation with the Least to
find It that will allow federal funds to be with
held from communities that that that allowed us to happen.
(24:26):
And two, we are looking at legislation to hold judicial
officials to release folks like this back commit crimes. Uh,
it just cases of just gross negligves. Look at ways
to find them personally responsible and liable. Maybe those are
some changes that that will help out. And at the
end of the day, this has got to be a
(24:47):
wake up call. It's got to be a wake up call.
Things have to change.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Congressman Moore, I know you're a very, very busy individual,
and I really do appreciate you joining us tonight.
Speaker 4 (24:56):
Thank you Direct.
Speaker 7 (25:00):
It's top eleven, ten.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
And ninety nine three WBT Brett Jensen here with you
on this really really busy Tuesday night edition of Breaking
with Brett Jenson. Okay, the Charlotte Fraternal Order Police, they
put out a statement yesterday. I tweeted about that particular
statement and now I've got a couple hundred thousand views
on it. That's why I always tell you to follow
me on except Bret underscore Jensen, but joining US now
is the head of Fraternal Order Police, Daniel Redford. So,
(25:24):
first of all, Daniel, thank you for joining us tonight.
And second of all, over the last twenty four hours,
that post that you put out there, has really gained
a lot of national attention.
Speaker 7 (25:32):
Can you talk about that.
Speaker 5 (25:35):
You know, it's been interesting, you know, and I'm glad
that I'm glad that this case has still been in
the news. You know, I mean this, this lady, you know,
flees a war torn country to come to Charlotte for
a better life. You know, she gets killed only months afterwards.
So you know, this is this is the story that
needs to remain in the headlines because it's something that
(25:56):
you know, hopefully we're able to use to get some
legislation or get you know, our elected officials eyes to
open up to see the reality of the dangers of
crime and bond policies, uh and and everything else that
we have going on here in Mecklenburg County. You know,
it's glad that I'm glad that it's getting the attention.
(26:17):
Frustrating that we have a mayor who you know, releases
a horrible statement on this and that in itself has
attracted a lot of attention. And and we've just capitalized
on that because you know, this, this poor young lady's
death should not be used to score political points, should
(26:37):
not be used to try to be a stepping stone
for a re election, you know, as as our local
city council members are, you know, facing the last day
of voting for primaries here.
Speaker 8 (26:48):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (26:49):
You know, it's it's been amazing to see the attention
paid towards this because of the brutality of this incident.
Speaker 4 (26:56):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (26:57):
And and the fact that this young lady needs justice,
family needs justice. And there's so many others in the
in Mecklenburg County, you know that that need justice as well,
because of the failures of our court systems that allow
these offenders to get back out and remain on our streets.
The judges who rule on emotion or politics versus what
the actual rule of law is. Uh. In our in
(27:19):
our district attorney's office, who allow violent offenders to get
sweetheart plea deals or or just in cases time and
time again. It's it's a it's a continuous story.
Speaker 4 (27:31):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
And it's and I'm glad that it's finally getting the
attention that it meets and deserves.
Speaker 1 (27:36):
Speak with Daniel Redford, the president of the Charlotte Fraternal
Order of Police. When you talk to your members, like
maybe after a meeting and you're just you know, shooting
the breeze with some of your members, is there ever
like frustration that is vented by some of the members
of the Fraternal Order Police about we keep arresting people
and they keep going and getting put back on the streets.
Is there ever a point where maybe they just say,
(27:57):
what's the point?
Speaker 4 (27:58):
Uh?
Speaker 5 (27:58):
But that is a daily occurrence. Yeah, it's it's absolutely
frustrating and mean because, you know, because the officers not
just in Charlotte, but across this country, you know who
who are experiencing policies that are similar to what we
have here in the Charlotte area. They're frustrated. And again
that is a common thing that comes up, is what's
the point? Right? Why am I going to continue to
(28:19):
go out here and put violent people and risk my
lives and potentially you know, take a father or a
mother away from my children, you know, or you know,
my spouse, you know, get the news that I didn't
make at home. Because of the dangers that are seen
in experienced from law enforcement, especially in larger cities, in
the cities in which criminals aren't held accountable, like Charlotte.
(28:42):
It's frustrating because they do these hard they do this
hard work. They go out there and they put so
much time and effort into making sure that the bad
guy is put away, and then by the end of
the shift that persons sometimes back out on the streets again.
It's frustrating, but you know that's when that's when you know,
officers go back and they reflect on why it is
(29:04):
that they became a police officer, and that is to
help others to put personal opinions or politics, or religion
or personal beliefs aside and focus on the job that
it is that you are hired and expected to do.
And that's where the passion of being a law enforcement
officer comes back into play. So, you know, it's personally
(29:25):
frustrating because of the amount of time that's taken away,
you know, from our families as police officers. But you know,
it's a job that we know that that's what is expected.
It's this job that we love doing, and you know,
the frustration has come with it. But unfortunately, it just
seems to be a repeating type of situation. Here where
(29:46):
it's not just a one office, it's it's a kind
of thing.
Speaker 4 (29:49):
You know.
Speaker 5 (29:50):
Brown is not the only defendant who has been out
on pre trial release that has killed somebody or violently
injured somebody. He's one of many in Charlotte that has
been out of you know, out of jail awaiting charges
and has committed another violent attack. So, uh, you know,
for for Byliles to sit back and say we need
bipartisan support, you know, I mean she needs to look
(30:13):
in the mirror because her party is the one that's
in power in Charlotte. There's what two Republicans on all
of city council. You know, our our sheriff as a
registered Democrat. A lot of the police leadership that that's
Charlotte Police Department, you know, are registered Democrats or independent.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (30:31):
You know, so this isn't a Democrat or Republican or
independent or this isn't a bipartisan issue. This is a
safety issue. This is a common sense issue. For her
to try to be politics and I think this is
a leader and the mayor she is because it's a
cop out, it's you know, it means nothing. We had
times at the Charlotte Transit Center this year and a
(30:53):
man was almost beaten to death on a cats bus
and that's just been in this year. Where in the
hell with her frustration at them, where was her initiative
to go out and try and make the transit systems safer?
Then why is it now right because today is the
last day of primaries, she's facing an opponent. I'm sure
(31:14):
she's nervous. She wants to beat the opponent so she
can remain in power. But I think we've had enough
of the failed policies of not just Byliles, but several
within city council, who have allowed this stuff to happen,
who have emboldened criminals to go out and say that,
you know, this thing never should have happened because this
guy had a mental health issue. Is absolutely the dumbest
(31:36):
thing I've ever heard in a response from anybody in
an elected position, but from our city leadership, who failed
to stand up in front of a camera or stand
in front of a of a you know, a of
the media and call this crap out like they're so
because it's not politically puffy. So that's the frustrating part
(31:57):
is that our leadership is they don't have the backbone
to go out there and call out violence. I don't
think that Democrats or Republicans alike are going to disagree
with somebody who goes out and speaks against violence in
our streets. That our mayor has not said a damn
word about anything up until this point is absolutely frustrating.
(32:19):
And but she she's got to get the hell out
of here. She's ruining the city. It's not just her specifically,
but it's her policy and her beliefs that are ruining
this city. And for anybody that lives in Uptown, which
was a beautiful place to go to in Charlotte, and
have to step over homeless people all the time, shows
you just how bad the city is falling into the cline.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Daniel Reford, President of the Charlotte Mecklenburg in Fraternal Order, Please,
I know you've been a very busy man with the
last twenty four hours doing a lot of national interviews,
so I appreciate you taking the time to talk with
us tonight now.
Speaker 5 (32:51):
Brett, I appreciate you as well, And I'm, like I said,
I'm glad that this is getting the getting to continued
coverage because this poor lady that you know, Arena did not.
She didn't deserve this. Nobody in our and nobody in
our our in our city deserves the violence. But you know,
until until we have elected leaders that actually have a
backbone to stand up and call it out, you know,
(33:11):
nothing's going to change, and you know the pressure is
is hopefully what's going to be that call to action.
So again, Brett, I always appreciate every every time you
reach out to me. So it's always a pleasure. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (33:23):
All Right, everyone that's going to do it for us
tonight once again thanks to Congressman Tim Moore as well
as FOP President Daniel Reford. Major major show again tomorrow
night as Michael Wattley, who's running for US Senate, joins
me to talk about this situation. My name is Brett Jensen,
and you have been listening to Breaking with Brett Jensen.
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