Charlotte Dem opposes Trump’s cash bail criticism after train stabbing: ‘Can’t put everyone in jail’
WASHINGTON, DC: Democratic Congresswoman Alma Adams has declared that not everyone can be detained.
This statement came in response to President Donald Trump’s criticism of Charlotte’s cashless bail system, as she defended the policy following a brutal light rail murder that shocked the city.
Trump condemned the system after Decarlos Brown Jr, a repeat offender with 14 prior arrests, fatally stabbed 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. He blamed the city’s bail policies for keeping Brown on the streets and called for tougher detention measures for violent criminals.
Alma Adams expresses disagreement with Trump's cash bail claim
Alma Adams pushed back against Trump’s call for stricter detention of repeat offenders, firmly rejecting his criticism of Charlotte’s cashless bail system.
In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, Adams said, “You can’t solve everything by putting people in jail. We can't jail our way out of some of the situations that are going on.” She added, "I don't necessarily agree with the president about the cash bail."
Later, Adams also accused Trump of politicizing the tragedy. She pointed out that the stabbing occurred in August and suggested the timing of Trump’s recent comments was “probably political for various reasons.”
Her comments came in response to Trump’s sharp rebuke of the system following the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail. “The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on cashless bail in January, a total of 14 times,” Trump said. “What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be locked up.”
Alma Adams links Charlotte light rail stabbing to mental illness
Congresswoman Adams strongly asserted that the tragic stabbing of Iryna Zarutska could not have been prevented by simply incarcerating the suspect, Decarlos Brown. Instead, she argued that the real root of the crisis lies in untreated mental health issues.
“We can’t overlook the illnesses that people have and especially mental illness,” Adams said. “I think we've got to look at helping if there's some mental health issues, we need to put more support there, which we have not done.”
Her comments come despite the fact that North Carolina has made record-breaking investments in mental health in recent years. The state’s 2023–2025 budget includes $835 million in funding for mental health services, with nearly $100 million specifically allocated to support formerly incarcerated individuals. At the time, the funding was widely praised as historic.
Adams claimed that not all of the money is reaching its intended destination. “There are lots of services that can be provided to people,” she said. “Some of them are being covered, but a lot of the dollars are being filtered out.” She did not provide specifics on how or where the funding is being diverted.
Alma Adams explains why offender Decarlos Brown was still on the streets
When asked why Brown, who had been arrested 14 times, was still on the streets before committing the attack, Adams responded, “We have to deal with where people are. Violent criminals, yes, we need to address that, but we also have to address a lot of what's going on today.”
She added, “Mental health is connected, it seems to me. So we can't, we can't address one without the other.”
The 79-year-old lawmaker described the killing as “a terrible situation” and said she has prayed for the young Ukrainian woman and her family, adding, “That shouldn’t have happened.”
