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FIRST ON FOX: The House of Representatives is charging ahead with discussions on how to bolster trust in public transit after the deadly stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, N.C.
A panel of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding a closed-door roundtable with federal transit officials, as well as law enforcement and union representatives on Thursday, Fox News Digital has learned.
It’s being led by Highways and Transit subcommittee chair Rep. David Rouzer, R-N.C., who represents the state where the stabbing occurred.
“The recent deadly stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail is a stark reminder safety must be at the center of our national transit conversation,” Rouzer told Fox News Digital.
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The stabbing of 23-year-old refugee Iryna Zarutska last month is fueling public transit safety talks in the House of Representatives. (Getty Images;NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)
Lawmakers said they are hoping to hear directly from officials on strategies to mitigate crime on public transit systems.
While public transportation has already been under the committee’s purview, the tragic killing of Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte last month is fueling new urgency for House lawmakers on the panel.
The Thursday roundtable is directly tied to that incident, Fox News Digital is told.
Among the participants expected are Federal Transit Administration leader Marc Molinaro, who is a former House lawmaker, as well as American Public Transportation Association President Paul Skoutelas, Kansas City Police Chief Stacey Graves, AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan and Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) CEO Randy Clarke.
A member of House GOP leadership, Republican Conference Chair Lisa McClain, R-Mich., is also expected to attend.
A spokesperson for the House Transportation Committee, led by Chair Sam Graves, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital that the roundtable would help inform legislation being crafted by the panel.
Then-Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., now FTA administrator, leaves a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
“The committee is in the process of developing a broad, comprehensive surface transportation reauthorization bill – sometimes referred to as the ‘highway bill,’ but it also includes policy changes and funding authorizations for federal transit programs,” the spokesperson said. “This roundtable will inform that bill development process.”
Graves added, “Trust in transit overall will continue to erode if we don’t take action to stop violent crime on public transit.”
Zarutska, 23, was killed on a Charlotte light rail train on Aug. 22 while on her way home from work.
Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., who allegedly stabbed Zarutska in an unprovoked attack, was charged with first-degree murder this week.
Zarutska had fled Ukraine in August 2022 after Russia launched its invasion of the sovereign country. She was working at a local pizza shop and studying at a community college at the time of her killing.
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Side-by-side images of Iryna Zarutska and a light rail platform in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Associated Press)
The case is now the latest example being held up by Republicans of big cities having too lax a justice system in dealing with crime, including on mass transit.
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It comes amid broader partisan divisions over the merits of President Donald Trump deploying the National Guard to major cities in order to deal with violent crime.
And while Thursday’s roundtable is bipartisan, Democrats have previously accused Republicans of politicizing the 23-year-old’s death.
“I think it’s outrageous that people are trying to politicize the death of this wonderful young lady. It’s outrageous that anyone would politicize that death. What decency do people have at a moment like this, as opposed to trying to find commonsense solutions?” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., said earlier this month.
