Whatley links Cooper to transit killing, accuses Dem of freeing ‘rapists and murderers’

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North Carolina Republican Senate candidate Michael Whatley took aim at his top Democratic opponent ahead of Tuesday’s primary election, tying former Gov.Roy Cooper to the conditions he says led to the stabbing death of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska onCharlotte’s transit systemlast year.

On Aug.22, 2025, Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34, is accused ofstabbing Zarutska to deathnear the East West Boulevard light rail station in Mecklenburg County as she rode the train.

Critics sayCooper’s 2021 settlementwith civil rights groups over COVID-19 prison conditions is connected to Brown being released from custody.However, claims about Brown being released because of this settlement have been fact-checked multiple times as false, according to reportsincluding WRAL— which reported Brown was “allowed to be included on a list of prisoners released early even though the settlement had no bearing on his case.”

In a message to the media ahead of Tuesday’s election, Whatley’s campaign titled its victory party press invitation “Deets on where DeCarlos Brown will not be on primary night.”

Republican Michael Whatley and Democrat Roy Cooper standing together

Republican Michael Whatley and Democrat Roy Cooper stand together in a photo.(Angela Weiss/AFP | Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu/Getty Images)

“Hint: Not at Michael Whatley’s primary night victory party at Noble Smoke in Charlotte,” the release read.

At the bottom, theWhatley campaignlaunched another broadside, writing that “no, we don’t know for sure if all the child molesters, rapists, and murderers released by Roy Cooper will be at the Cooper party, but we bet those same child molesters, rapists, and murderers are in the Cooper camp.”

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“These Republican attacks are false — Roy Cooper is the only candidate who spent his careerprosecuting violent criminalsand keeping thousands of them behind bars as attorney general and signing tough-on-crime laws and a stricter pretrial release bail policy as governor,” the spokesperson said.

“DC insider lobbyist Michael Whatley is desperate to distract from his support forcuts to law enforcementthat make North Carolinians less safe,” they added.

Whatley and Cooper won their respective primaries on Tuesday and will face off to succeed retiringSen.Thom Tillis, R-N.C.

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Earlier Tuesday, Tillis launched his own broadside against DHS SecretaryKristi Noemduring a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, criticizing her handling of FEMA in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, which devastated western North Carolina.

In the Zarutska case, FTA Administrator Marc Molinaro blamed “systemic failures” within the transit system of the state’s largest city, citing reports showing crime onboard is higher than the national average.