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After Decarlos Brown Jr. was arrested for the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee aboard a North Carolina commuter train, he was quickly sent to a state mental hospital for an evaluation. It was a sharp contrast from a January misdemeanor arrest, where it took more than six months for a court to order a mental evaluation after Brown told officers that he had been given a human-made substance that controlled when he ate, talked or walked.
The Justice Department on Tuesday charged Brown, 34, with causing death on a mass transportation system last month when he allegedly killed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in what has become the latest flashpoint for the White House’s efforts to paint Democratic-led cities as havens for violent criminals.
The January arrest was just one of the missed opportunities in Brown’s criminal history, according to experts. He had cycled through the criminal justice system for more than a decade, court records show.
“I think there are multiple failed opportunities here, in the mental health space and in the criminal justice space,” said Kenneth Corey, a former department chief for the New York City Police Department who now teaches at the University of Chicago Crime Lab’s Policing Leadership Academy.
Decarlos Brown could have faced a federal charge before
Court records show Brown was initially charged in 2014 with being a felon in possession of a firearm, which is sometimes used by federal prosecutors to pull cases into the federal system where there are often stiffer penalties. Federal prosecutors did not take the case, and the state charge was dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on a charge of robbery using a deadly weapon, court records show.
The Justice Department filing Tuesday was Brown’s first charge in federal court, according to a search of federal records.
Brown also is now charged with first-degree murder in state court, where records show he was sent a week after his arrest to a state mental hospital for an evaluation to determine his capacity to proceed with trial. Both the federal charge and the state charge could carry the death penalty.
Calls to the Mecklenburg County Public Defender’s Office were not answered Wednesday.
Video released Friday shows Zarutska entering a light-rail train on Aug. 22 and taking a seat in front of Brown. Minutes later, without any apparent interaction, he pulls out a pocketknife, stands and slashes her in the neck, investigators said.
The Trump administration has blamed Democrats for what they say is out-of-control crime and violence in blue cities. The White House has highlighted Brown’s case and Trump has repeatedly referred to it, saying in one social media post: “Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP.”
U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy chimed in early Wednesday announcing the Federal Transit Administration had launched an investigation into the security spending and safety plans for the Charlotte Area Transit System. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said in a statement that the city would cooperate and has already committed to increasing security and police patrols on the system.
Corey said many federal prosecutors offices tell police and local officials they lack financial resources to try more cases of felons in possession of a firearm, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison. But he believes the charge could be used better as a tool against the small percentage of people responsible for repeated violent offenses.
“They end up taking only the worst of the worst because they don’t have the resources,” Corey said. “And to be clear, despite multiple previous arrests, I’m not sure this man’s case rose to anywhere near that threshold.”
A court must order a mental health evaluation
In January, Brown was arrested after repeatedly calling 911 from a hospital, where he complained that someone was trying to control him with foreign substances. He was quickly released without bail on a promise to return for court, which is standard for lower-level misdemeanors. The charge carries a maximum sentence of four months in jail under standards approved by the Republican-led Legislature in 2013.
His public defender requested a mental evaluation to determine if he could contribute to his defense. A judge signed an order on July 28 telling Brown to report to a community forensic evaluator within seven days. It’s unclear if Brown went. Court records show that after the train stabbing, the evaluation order was canceled without being finished.
Dr. Robert Cochrane, the statewide director of forensic services at North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services, noted symptoms of mental illness can ebb and wane and that anyone can petition the court if they think someone can’t contribute to their own defense.
“But it requires a court order to do an evaluation,” he said.
Delays for court-ordered evaluations aren’t long in North Carolina.
In the first six months of this year, department records showed it took on average 18 days for court-ordered evaluations by a certified forensic evaluator in the community — the standard for lesser charges. It took 69 days on average between an order and an evaluation at a state mental hospital where people facing higher-level crimes are more often sent, and which usually involve more in-depth investigations including seeking records and interviews with family or friends.
An involuntary commitment also requires a court order
Brown’s mother told local television she sought an involuntary psychiatric commitment this year after he became violent at home. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
But experts say involuntary commitments are often difficult to obtain. A court must find someone to be a danger to themself or others. Once someone is stabilized, they generally are free to leave.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Vice President Kamala Harris says it was “recklessness” for Democrats to leave it to President Joe Biden to decide whether to continue seeking another term last year, but she defends his ability to do the job, according an excerpt of her new book.
Harris, in an excerpt of “107 Days” published Wednesday in The Atlantic, writes that as questions swirled about whether the then-81-year-old Biden should seek reelection, she and others left the decision to him and first lady Jill Biden.
“Was it grace, or was it recklessness? In retrospect, I think it was recklessness,” Harris said.
“The stakes were simply too high,” Harris writes in the book. “This wasn’t a choice that should have been left to an individual’s ego, an individual’s ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision.”
Biden’s office did not immediately have a comment Wednesday.
Throughout the campaign and in its wake, Harris had avoided much criticism of the president she served beside and defended him amid questions about his mental acuity.
In the book excerpt, Harris continues to defend Biden’s ability to do the job but describes him in 2024 and especially at the time of his “debate debacle” as “tired.”
“On his worst day, he was more deeply knowledgeable, more capable of exercising judgment, and far more compassionate than Donald Trump on his best. But at 81, Joe got tired. That’s when his age showed in physical and verbal stumbles,” Harris writes. “I don’t think it’s any surprise that the debate debacle happened right after two back-to-back trips to Europe and a flight to the West Coast for a Hollywood fundraiser. I don’t believe it was incapacity.”
She adds that if she believed Biden were incapacitated, she would have said so out of loyalty to the country.
Harris also blames those close to Biden for unflattering media coverage throughout the time she served as vice president and throwing her under the bus to boost Biden’s public standing.
She writes about receiving a high level of scrutiny as the first female vice president but says “when the stories were unfair or inaccurate, the president’s inner circle seemed fine with it. Indeed, it seemed as if they decided I should be knocked down a little bit more.”
Harris writes that she often learned that Biden’s staff was “adding fuel to negative narratives” that surrounded her, such as stories about her vice presidential office being in disarray and having high turnover.
The former vice president also accuses Biden’s staff of being afraid of her upstaging him, describing a speech she gave in Selma, Alabama, in March of last year in which she called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and more humanitarian aid to be delivered to people there.
“It went viral, and the West Wing was displeased,” Harris says, “I was castigated for, apparently, delivering it too well.”
She suggests that diminishing her also diminished Biden, especially “given the concerns about his age.”
Harris’ success, she writes, would be a marker of Biden’s good judgment and a reassurance to the public that if something happened to the president she could step in.
“My success was important for him,” she writes. “His team didn’t get it.”
Harris’ book, whose title is a nod to the length of her abbreviated presidential campaign, is set to be published by Simon & Schuster on Sept. 23.
This recipe is the perfect homemade appetizer for when the weather starts to get a little cooler. Enjoy it with your favorite chips, crackers or bread.
Ingredients
1 8 oz block cream cheese, softened at room temperature
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 bag frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 can marinated artichoke hearts
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
Instructions
1. Preheat the oven Preheat the oven to 400 degrees f.
2.Build the base In a medium-sized bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream and mayonnaise. Drain and chop the artichoke hearts and pat the spinach with a paper towel to soak up most of the moisture.
3. Add the good stuff Add the spinach, artichokes, garlic, parmesan cheese, spices and 1 cup of the mozzarella to the bowl and stir to combine.
4. Prep for the oven Spray a baking dish with oil (9×9 or a cast iron skillet work great) then pour in the dip. Sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella on top.
5. Bake Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble on top.
5. Serve it hot Serve immediately with your favorite chips, crackers or bread and enjoy the goodness!
By ADRIANA GOMEZ LICON and GARY D. ROBERTSON Associated Press
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A Democratic mayor secured a comfortable win in a primary election despite days of intense backlash following the deadly stabbing of a young Ukrainian woman on a commuter train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Mayor Vi Lyles is seeking a fifth term but is coming under criticism after images of the attack sparked widespread outrage from President Donald Trump to other Republicans and figures in the “Make America Great Again” movement. They say the killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska shows how Democrats are too soft on people with criminal records. Democrats who challenged her in the primary also said the mayor’s response has been insufficient.
The killing is fueling Trump’s tough-on-crime campaign as he seeks to take over law enforcement agencies in Democratic-led cities. It’s also given Trump and his allies a way to make an appeal to the American public as they indict measures spurred by Democrats to fight bias in police and courts, despite violent crime having decreased nationwide.
Trump has not specifically criticized the mayor, but said the victim’s “blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail.”
Spotlight during primaries
Despite the attack and its fallout, Lyles was still seen as the front-runner for reelection.
Four lesser-known Democratic candidates challenged Lyles in the primaries. One of them, Brendan Maginnis, mentioned the stabbing prominently in his Aug. 29 public safety plan, saying he would prevent similar tragedies on Charlotte’s light rail. Tigress Sydney Acute McDaniel said Lyles was a “day late and a dollar short.”
Lyles will take on Republican Terrie Donovan, a real estate agent who faced no primary opposition in the heavily Democratic city, in the November general election. She had already made crime her top issue even before the killing. Donovan released a statement on the case.
“This tragedy must serve as a wake up call for all of us to demand better from our elected officials,” Donovan said in a statement.
Charlotte’s politics shifted to the left over the past generation as North Carolina’s population surged, particularly in urban areas where affluent, out-of-state transplants taking high-tech jobs weren’t necessarily attracted to Republicans’ conservative agenda on social issues.
In the city, 42% of the voters are registered as Democrats, 17% are registered as Republicans. Almost 40% are unaffiliated, but are able to vote in Democratic or Republican primaries.
Lyles has never been seriously challenged since winning her first term, when she defeated her Republican rival with 59% of the vote. She won reelection in 2023 with 74% of the general election vote.
Lyles posted an open letter on social media late Monday, calling Zarutska’s death a “tragic failure by the courts and magistrates.”
“Our police officers arrest people only to have them quickly released, which undermines our ability to protect our community and ensure safety,” Lyles added.
“We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets.”
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Gomez Licon reported from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The Infowars host is arguing that the judge was wrong to find him liable for defamation and infliction of emotional distress without holding a trial on the merits of allegations lodged by relatives of victims of the shooting, which killed 20 first graders and six educators in Newtown, Connecticut.
Judge Barbara Bellis, frustrated at what she called Jones’ repeated failure to abide by court rulings and to turn over certain evidence to the Sandy Hook families, issued a rare default ruling against Jones and his company in late 2021 as a penalty. That meant that she found him liable without a trial on the facts and convened a jury to only determine what damages he owed.
A six-person jury in Waterbury issued a $964 million verdict in October 2022 in favor of the plaintiffs — an FBI agent who responded to the shooting and relatives of eight children and adults who were killed. Bellis later tacked on another $473 million in punitive damages against Jones and Free Speech Systems, Infowars’ parent company that is based in Austin, Texas.
During the trial to determine damages, relatives of the shooting victims testified that people whom they called followers of Jones subjected them to death and rape threats, in-person harassment and abusive comments on social media. Jones argues there was never any proof presented that linked him to those actions.
Jones filed his request to the Supreme Court on Friday and it was released by the court on Tuesday.
Jones’ lawyers — Ben Broocks, Shelby Jordan and Alan Daughtry — insist in the petition that state courts cannot determine liability based only on sanctions such as default rulings. They say that constitutional law and Supreme Court precedent require public figures such as the Sandy Hook families to prove their defamation claims against journalists such as Jones.
They also say that the Connecticut judge imposed the default ruling on Jones based on “trivial” reasons and that Jones had substantially complied with the court’s orders — which the Sandy Hook families’ lawyers deny.
Jones’ attorneys further cite First Amendment protections for free speech, saying Jones’ comments about the school shooting being a hoax were not defamatory but rather “expressions of constitutionally protected opinion.” Jones has since said he believed the shooting was “100% real.”
“The media landscape is rife with groups challenging various events, including Holocaust denial, moon landing skepticism, 9/11 conspiracy theories, and even flat Earth claims,” the petition says. “However, such statements critique or dismiss the events themselves, not the character, conduct, or reputation of those associated with them.”
Among other claims, Jones’ petition says the $1.4 billion judgment is excessive punishment under the Eighth Amendment.
If the judgment is allowed to stand, Jones’ lawyers said it would “chill the reporting of news” and “result in self-censoring fear of suits.”
Lawyers for the Sandy Hook families disputed Jones’ arguments.
“There is no legitimate basis for the U.S. Supreme Court to accept this last gasp from Alex Jones and we will oppose it in due course,” Christopher Mattei, a lawyer for the families, said in a statement.
In a similar defamation lawsuit filed in Texas by the parents of another Sandy Hook victim, Jones was found liable without a trial as punishment for failing to turn over documents. In that case, which also is being appealed, a judge and jury issued a $49 million judgment against Jones in August 2022.
Jones filed for bankruptcy in late 2022. In those proceedings, an auction was held in November to liquidate Infowars’ assets to help pay the defamation judgments, and the satirical news outlet The Onion was named the winning bidder. But the bankruptcy judge threw out the auction results, citing problems with the process and The Onion’s bid.
The attempt to sell off Infowars’ assets has moved to a Texas state court in Austin. Jones is now appealing a recent order from the court that appointed a receiver to liquidate the assets. Some of Jones’ personal property is also being sold off as part of the bankruptcy case.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.
The federal charge comes amid growing questions about why Decarlos Brown Jr. was on the street despite 14 prior criminal arrests before he was accused of pulling out a knife and killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in an apparently random attack captured on video.
The case has become latest flashpoint in the debate over whether cities such as Charlotte are adequately addressing violent crime, mental illness and transit safety. The Trump administration says the killing shows how local leaders, judges and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime.
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
Zarutska had been living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to to the U.S. to escape the war, according to relatives, who described her as determined to build a safer life.
Video released Friday shows Zarutska entering a light-rail train on Aug. 22 and taking a seat in front of Brown, who was seated behind her. Minutes later, without any apparent interaction, he pulls out a pocketknife, stands and slashes her in the neck, investigators said. Passengers scream and scatter as she collapses.
He is charged federally with causing death on a mass transportation system, which carries up to life in prison or the death penalty. Russ Ferguson, the U.S. attorney for the western district of North Carolina, said additional charges could be brought as the investigation continues.
The federal case will run parallel with the state case charging Brown with first-degree murder.
The death penalty is also a potential punishment for people convicted of first-degree murder in North Carolina. However, the state has not carried out an execution since 2006. Legal challenges over the use of lethal injection drugs and a doctor’s presence at executions have in part delayed action.
Brown had cycled through the criminal justice system for more than a decade including serving five years for robbery with a dangerous weapon in Mecklenburg County, according to court records. He was arrested earlier this year after repeatedly calling 911 from a hospital, claiming people were trying to control him. A judge released him without bail.
His mother told local television she sought an involuntary psychiatric commitment this year after he became violent at home. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
Court records show a judge ordered a psychological exam in July at the request of his public defender to determine whether he was capable of contributing to his own defense. It wasn’t clear if the exam was scheduled or why it didn’t happen before the late August attack.
The Mecklenburg County public defender’s office did not answer a call Tuesday.
President Donald J. Trump denounces senseless crime in Democrat-run cities & the horrific murder of a young woman in Charlotte by a deranged criminal monster.
"It's time to stop this madness. The people of our country need to insist on protection, safety, LAW & ORDER." pic.twitter.com/eUD5KuTufC
The Trump administration has repeatedly blamed Democrats for what they say is out-of-control crime and violence in blue cities. The White House highlighted the case during Tuesday’s press briefing while Trump has repeatedly spoken about the killing, saying in one social media post: “Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP.”
“Americans have to feel safe in the in the cities that they live in,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on Fox News. “And this is a stark example of how leftist liberal policies are failing.”
Charlotte has increased security along its transit lines in response to the fatal stabbing, Mayor Vi Lyles said in a letter to the city’s residents. The Democratic mayor’s letter was also critical of the court system, echoing some of the critics of the city’s response.
Lyles called the killing “a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates,” saying the city’s officers arrest people who are then quickly released.
The state auditor, Republican Dave Boliek, said his office would audit Charlotte’s transit system, looking at its safety and security budget and private security contracts.
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Associated Press reporter Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed. Verduzco reported from Charlotte, North Carolina.
CUPERTINO, Calif. (AP) — Apple on Tuesday rolled out its next generation of iPhones that includes a new ultra-thin model and a slight price hike for one of its high-end models, while the company feels the squeeze of a global trade war.
The iPhone 17 line-up includes a new slimmed-down model that will adopt the “Air” name that Apple already uses for its sleekest iPads and Mac computers. In what has become an annual rite for Apple, all four new iPhone 17 models will feature better cameras and longer-lasting batteries than last year’s line-up. The iPhone 17 will all boast at least 256 gigabytes of storage, doubling the minimum amount from the last generation.
“We are raising the bar again,” Apple CEO Tim Cook boasted in front of a crowd gathered in an auditorium named after the company’s late co-founder, Steve Jobs, located on its campus in Cupertino, California.
The new iPhones are the first to be released since President Donald Trump returned to the White House and unleashed a barrage of tariffs, in what his administration says is an attempt to bring overseas manufacturing back to the U.S. — a crusade that has thrust Cook into the hot seat.
All the iPhone 17 models are still expected to be made in Apple’s manufacturing hubs in China and India, exposing them to some of Trump’s tariffs.
Analysts believe the additional fees on iPhones coming into the U.S. increase the pressure on Apple to raise prices to help protect its profit margins on its most marquee product.
Without giving a specific reason, Apple will charge $1,100 for the iPhone 17 Pro, an increase of $100, or 10%, from previous versions of that model. The iPhone Air will start at $1,000 — the price of last year’s iPhone 16 Pro.
Apple is sticking with the same starting price for the basic iPhone 17 at $800 and the iPhone 17 Pro Max at $1,200.
All four models will be in stores Sept. 19.
Apple’s shares fell nearly 2% in Tuesday’s late afternoon trading.
In a move aimed at the selfie culture, the iPhone 17 models will feature a front camera with more megapixels for crisper photos. The front camera will also have an option called “Center Stage” that will take advantage of a wider view of field and a new sensor that will enable users to take landscape photos without having to rotate the iPhone.
Although most of the upgrades to the iPhone 17 are similar to the incremental improvements of recent years, Apple appears to have done enough to “bring a sense of newness to the iPhone, which has remained the same for too long,” said PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore.
While the iPhone 16 released last year fared reasonably well, the models didn’t sell quite as well as analysts had anticipated because Apple failed to deliver all of the artificial intelligence features it had promised, including a smarter and more versatile Siri assistant. The Siri improvements have been pushed back until next year.
The global trade war has compounded Apple’s challenges.
Both Trump and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick have repeatedly insisted that iPhones be made in the U.S. instead of overseas. It’s an unrealistic demand that analysts say would take years to pull off and would result in a doubling, or even a tripling, of the iPhone’s current average price of about $1,000.
That kind of diplomacy has helped insulate Apple from Trump’s most severe tariffs. However, with the iPhones being brought into the U.S. still facing duties of about 25%, some analysts speculated the company would raise prices to help preserve the its heft profit margins. But for the most part, Apple — and even rivals such as Google — is sticking with the same price tags it’s slapped on its newest iPhones over recent years.
Although Apple’s stock price is still down by 4% so far this year, the shares have been bouncing back in recent months amid signs it won’t be as hard hit by the tariffs as once feared, and a highly anticipated court ruling cleared the way for the company to continue receiving $20 billion annually to lock in Google’s search engine as the default option on iPhones.
Lebanon, Tennessee-based Cracker Barrel said Tuesday that just four of its 660 restaurants had been remodeled as part of a test for the brand. The remodels, which began last year, added more comfortable seating, brighter lights, lighter paint and a simplified assortment of antiques but kept signature elements like fireplaces.
“We heard clearly that the modern remodel design does not reflect what you love about Cracker Barrel,” the company said in a statement. “Of course, we will continue to invest in our restaurants to make sure that they are in good shape and meet your expectations.”
Cracker Barrel announced a transformation plan in May 2024 under its new CEO, Julie Felss Masino, a former executive at Taco Bell and Starbucks. Masino said Cracker Barrel was losing its relevance and needed some changes to boost customer traffic. In addition to remodeled stores, the chain planned new dinner menu items and more efficient kitchens.
At the time, Masino said Cracker Barrel planned to remodel 25 to 30 stores in its 2025 fiscal year, which ended July 31.
“Historically, Cracker Barrel has made limited changes to our design aesthetic, and we’ve probably relied a little too much on what was perceived to be the timeless nature of our concept,” Masino said during a conference call with investors.
Masino said the company had received positive customer feedback after remodeling two stores.
“The goal, simply put, was to freshen things in such a way as to be noticeable and attractive but still feel like Cracker Barrel,” she said.
But the changes didn’t sit well with many customers, especially after Cracker Barrel announced it planned to simplify its logo and remove a picture of an overall-clad man leaning on a barrel.
“They are supposed to be taking out the old, I call it ‘antique-type’ decorations on the walls,” said Jerry Love as he stood outside of a Cracker Barrel in Vicksburg, Mississippi, late last month. “I’m very conservative and old so I like those and rather that they didn’t.”
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AP Video Journalist Sophie Bates contributed from Vicksburg, Mississippi.
