Wikipedia editors clashed over whether to delete an article about homeless ex-convict DeCarlos Brown stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Surveillance footage published on Friday showed Brown, who had 14 prior court cases, allegedly fatally stabbing Zarutska on a light rail train on Aug. 22. A Wikipedia editor nominated the online encyclopedia’s article, “Killing of Iryna Zarutska,” for deletion, sparking a debate regarding whether it should remain.
“There are some people in social media and other venues who are trying to make this into something far greater than it really merits,” a Wikipedia editor in favor of deletion named TiggerJay wrote. “Nothing is remarkable about this. Even the premise of the immigrant status, nor race of either person, seems to have any indication for a hate crime even. Rather just a random act of violence.”
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“Definitely not delete, this killing is worldwide news, maybe it’s not on legacy media, but Ukrainian media, and social media have picked it up and called for something to be done about it,” an editor named 2601:601:D37E:C3F0:41FD:AED:3AB9:8CA8 replied. “The issue here touches on homelessness, the Ukrainian war, and some pundits have tried making it about race. This is definitely newsworthy and a reflection of the state of the culture right now.”
Axios also faced backlash on Monday for accusing supporters of President Donald Trump of using the murder to suggest that crime is worsening.
After the media largely ignored the tragedy, Axios published the piece, “Stabbing video fuels MAGA’s crime message,” to suggest that “MAGA influencers” were exploiting the footage to attract “repeated attention” to violent crime.
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“Sorry for the callousness, but I fail to see what is notable about single murder,” a Wikipedia editor in favor of deletion named Insanityclown1 wrote. “Murders happen in the US every day, if they all had wikipedia articles, the site would be flooded with them.”
“While many murders happen in the US every day, very few of them get such amount of national and international coverage and attention. It might be interesting to analyze why this murder got so much more attention than others, and I have my own speculations about the reasons for that, but it really doesn’t matter,” an editor named Vegan416 replied. “If it captures a lot of global attention then it is notable, even if you fail to understand why it catches so much attention.”
The article remains on Wikipedia as of Monday afternoon.
Brown pulled out a pocket knife and allegedly stabbed Zarutska three times, including at least once in the throat, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police, WBTV reported. The footage showed Brown walking through the rail car following the attack, removing his red sweatshirt as passengers noticed blood dripping from him.
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Zarutska collapsed in her seat and was pronounced dead while on the train. Brown exited at the following stop where police found a folding knife near the platform.
Officers arrested Brown after he received treatment for a hand laceration. Court records show Brown had multiple arrests spanning back to 2011, such as robbery with a dangerous weapon, larceny and communicating threats.
Zarutska “had recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning,” according to a GoFundMe campaign that has raised over $82,000 for her family as of Monday afternoon.
Police have not determined a motive for the alleged murder.
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