The fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train has intensified America’s public safety debate, but as President Donald Trump floats bringing National Guard troops into cities across the U.S. to mitigate such crime, one city council member says it isn't the solution for Charlotte – at least for now.
"[I don't want to see the Guard brought in] at this time… simply because crime in Charlotte statistically is down like it is around most of the country," Edwin B. Peacock III, a Republican serving on the Charlotte City Council, told Fox News on Tuesday.
Peacock argued that statistics don't reflect the lived reality many residents experience, however.
CHARLOTTE TRAIN STABBING PUTS NORTH CAROLINA COMMUTERS ON EDGE AFTER RANDOM ATTACK
Suspect Decarlos Brown Jr. holds a knife before stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train (left). Charlotte City Council member Edwin B. Peacock III appears on the right. (NewsNation/Charlotte Area Transit System (left); "Fox & Friends First" (right).)
"This is a paper-thin statistic that most people are like CMPD [Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department] is holding onto, and I just know having been in this position before, that it's not something that you can take for granted.
"If someone doesn't feel safe in our city, statistics aren't going to help a victim like this," he added.
Peacock acknowledged Charlotte does have a "crime problem," but posed solutions aside from bringing in National Guard troops to address it.
"You have to be serious about what you can actually do about this type of crime," he said.
"You've pointed it out clearly through the court system where there's been a failure there, but also to help enforce the actual laws that are on the books."
PATEL AND DUFFY SIGNAL CHARLOTTE TRAIN MURDER UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION WITH NATIONAL IMPLICATIONS
Surveillance footage shows the moments before Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death in a random attack on the Lynx Blue Line on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025. (NewsNation/Charlotte Area Transit System)
The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., has a history of arrests going back more than a decade, including convictions for felony larceny and felony breaking and entering in 2013, and a 2015 conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon that sent him to prison for more than six years, according to records obtained by Fox News Digital.
Chilling surveillance video released by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) shows 23-year-old Zarutska step onto the Lynx Blue line just after 9:45 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 22 and claim a seat in front of Brown.
Brown can be seen unfolding a knife before abruptly standing and stabbing Zarutska three times, including once in the neck. Outlets pause the video before the actual stabbing occurs, however.
Peacock said city council members have received a "deluge" of mail in their inboxes, and he's urging the members to support the mayor's initiative to put more cops on trains and to crack down on fare evasion.
He noted that Charlotte’s light rail operates on an open platform system, meaning there’s little enforcement of who actually pays to ride.
"The message to most riders is that this is a free ride, and it’s not," he said. "If you don’t pay, you won’t ride."
Fox News' Bradford Betz and Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.