Iryna Zarutska, Lindsay Clancy, and the Politics of Who Gets Mourned

One year ago, this past weekend, a 14-time repeat criminal murdered 20-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte, North Carolina transit train, stabbing her three times in the neck from behind. Reportedly, the killer turned to the other occupants of the car and proclaimed, “I got the white girl.” None of her four fellow passengers in the train car called 911 or attempted to render first aid. Only some 90 seconds later did passengers from other parts of the train attempt to render aid, but by then it was already too late. Iryna lay dead in a pool of her own blood on the floor of the car. (RELATED: She Fled the Ukraine War for Safety. America Delivered Her to a Killer.)

One year on, we have a scattering of beautiful murals and little else to remind us of her death…

The murder sparked a wave of outrage across the U.S., but this was short-lived. While attention focused on the question of why Iryna’s murderer was out on the street, and, gratifyingly, some legislation was passed to address this problem, the wholly justifiable anger at the underlying system failure dissipated with unseemly haste. One year on, we have a scattering of beautiful murals and little else to remind us of her death, and even less to help us believe that it won’t happen again.

I wrote of Iryna’s murder at the time and wrote again of the similar deaths of other young women in similarly horrific circumstances. I wrote of the need for empowerment, for providing women with the tools and the training to better defend themselves, while also contending that nothing short of profound cultural change could create a situation where the Iryna’s of this world might go about their lives without fear. (RELATED: The Burning of Bethany Magee)

At the time, I also wondered at the relative reactions between Iryna’s death and that of George Floyd. I will save my observations on the unmerited sanctification of a career criminal for another time, but one thing seems completely clear. The death of George Floyd played perfectly into the already well-established operations of the left’s outrage machine, whose workings reached from the riotous streets all the way to the highest reaches of the Democrat political machine. (RELATED: The Manufacture of Moral Outrage)

Mostly “peaceful” protests, suspiciously funded and outrageously violent, found cover from the media and the leading lights of leftwing politics; one need only recall how Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and other leading Democrats knelt in homage to the memory of Floyd. And the over-the-top rhetoric, very well-rehearsed rhetoric, continued endlessly as our collective noses were rubbed in performative outrage.

Iryna’s murder received no such commemoration, nor the similar murders of so many other young women. Indeed, in many cities the movement to create murals of remembrance was often met with resistance, with suggestions that paintings of Iryna’s face were somehow inappropriate or divisive. And while the one-year anniversary of her death last Saturday drew some coverage, overall, this remained muted, and it faded overnight.

The simple fact remains: this young woman committed a crime so outrageous that the only civilized reaction is to recoil at the very fact of her existence.

Contrast this with the ongoing Lindsay Clancy spectacle. Here we have a woman who deliberately murdered her three small children — a woman who has already confessed to her crime. And yet, instead of being greeted with the universal disgust and horror her actions deserve, we see young women everywhere, including, appallingly, young mothers, who have rushed to her defense, demonstrating on her behalf, spinning ever more fanciful excuses for her actions, alleging tortured conspiracy theories to blame her husband and, more generally, the “patriarchy” he supposedly represents. (RELATED: Lindsay Clancy, Motherhood, and a Culture That Has Forgotten Sacrifice)

One can trot out endlessly every imaginable justification, and the simple fact remains: this young woman committed a crime so outrageous that the only civilized reaction is to recoil at the very fact of her existence. Instead, the GoFundMe account created by Lindsay’s parents has now topped a million dollars. What is this for? Legal expenses? She has already confessed. The trauma inflicted on her husband? No, apparently this isn’t even a consideration. Her children? No, they are dead, with only funeral expenses left to cover.

Seemingly, we no longer know how to value life, and, far too often, the value that is attached is driven less by respect for life and more by how death relates to a specific political agenda. The ghoulish gathering who attended Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s signing of a bill that pushed legalized abortion to the edge of infanticide is but one example — one could readily picture Lindsay Clancy’s face among this collection of harpies. (RELATED: The Demonic Possession of Liberal Women)

Many years ago, I worked in the Florida state prison system. There, I dealt face-to-face with more than a few murderers. Murder comes in all shapes and sizes, and, despite the romanticization of such figures as Luigi Mangeone, most exhibit a lack of remorse. Since I worked in the men’s system, these were all men. None of the ones I worked with enjoyed the notoriety of a place on death row, but some, at least, had found a few female camp followers, the letter writers, the groupies, sad cases that the inmates themselves tended to regard with bemused contempt.

Now we’ve reached a state where these pathetic creatures have metastasized into a political and cultural movement. And it’s not just here in the U.S., or just the isolated case represented by Lindsay Clancy. Throughout the West, we’ve seen far too many young women who joined gleefully in celebration of the Oct. 7 massacres or who applaud the execution of other young women in Iran.

In a better world, such women — and their male allies — would be shamed into lasting silence. In a better world, other voices would prevail, voices raised on behalf of Iryna Zarutska and others like her. This week at least, and before her memory fades even further, let’s remember who she was and how she died, and pledge ourselves accordingly. Others may die similarly. We may never eradicate evil — that is God’s business. But surely we can work toward a day when evil is no longer celebrated, and the victims of evil are truly honored.

READ MORE from James H. McGee:

Conservatives Should Begin Eating Woke Culture for Breakfast

Xi Jinping’s Global Strategy: Why China’s Unrestricted Warfare Demands America’s Attention

Fauci, Mamdani, and the New Totalitarians

James H. McGee is a retired nuclear security and counter-terrorism professional. His most recent novel, The Zebras from Minsk, was featured among National Review’s favorite books in 2025. His next novel, The Cathedral of Sorrows, will directly focus on the plight of Africa’s Christians. You can find The Zebras from Minsk and his previous thriller, Letter of Reprisal, in paperback and Kindle editions at Amazon. The Cathedral of Sorrows will appear this fall.