Massive outrage erupted after it emerged that GoFundMe pages were launched for Decarlos Brown Jr, the man arrested for the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, in North Carolina this August. The case has received recent attention after the video of the brutal attack surfaced online.
Zarutska, 23, had reportedly fled her war-torn home in Ukraine for safety in the US, but met a violent end on the Lynx Blue Line light rail system in Charlotte. Investigators said she was stabbed multiple times, with at least one blow striking her throat. After the incident, her family launched a GoFundMe, which has seen a recent influx of donations with the case coming into the spotlight.
However, people have expressed ire that the homeless man with a prior criminal record has had GoFundMe pages set up for him as well.
Anger over GoFundMe pages for Iryna’s killer
One person on X said “I’ve reported both fundraisers currently still listed for DeCarlos and recommend others do the same. They currently have zero donations.”
Another added, “There is a gofundme for Decarlos Brown. You can’t make this up. He murdered in cold blood and yet his supporters want you to think he was ‘failed’ by the system.” Yet another chimed in, saying, “They started a GoFundme for Decarlos Brown Jr.”
When HT.com searched for GoFundMe pages linked to Brown, no such page seeking to support the alleged murderer. One X user faced a similar situation and wrote “Was either fake or removed. If you search ‘Decarlos Brown Jr’ on GoFundMe, this is the only one that comes up…”.
Notably, this is the only page HT.com could also find. However, journalist Breanna Morello shared that pages for Brown had been removed by GoFundMe. She wrote on X “After reaching out to GoFundMe, they told me they’ve removed all of the fundraisers for murder suspect Decarlos Brown Jr.”
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with an alleged violent crime. Consistent with this long-standing policy, this fundraiser has been removed from the platform and the donors who contributed to the fundraiser have been fully refunded,” they said in a statement to her.
Meanwhile, there are also many who want Brown to get the death penalty for the alleged murder of the Ukrainian refugee.
