Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Newsmax on Monday the nation must return to tough-on-crime policies to make city streets safe again.
Van Drew spoke on “Greg Kelly Reports” just hours after a House Judiciary Oversight Subcommittee hearing in Charlotte, North Carolina, convened to spotlight the country’s violent crime crisis and to ensure that the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska — and others like hers — is never forgotten.
Zarutska was fatally stabbed on a Charlotte light rail train, allegedly by a man who, according to authorities, had been arrested 14 times before the attack. Van Drew said the hearing aimed to expose systemic failures in the justice system of municipalities like Charlotte and demand accountability.
“The point of today was to bring this to light again. We cannot forget about this. We cannot sweep it under the rug,” Van Drew said. “What’s so hurtful about all of this is it’s preventable. It doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to do this in America. But we are.”
Van Drew warned that violent crime now plagues almost every major city.
“You cannot walk freely day or night. That’s unacceptable. And people are tired of it. It has to stop,” he said.
The congressman focused on repeat offenders and lenient bail practices, which he said directly contributed to Zarutska’s death.
“We are putting people back out on the street over and over and over again who’ve committed crimes, in many cases felonies,” Van Drew told Newsmax. “This particular case, he had committed 14 different crimes before. He had been arrested 14 different times. The magistrate, which is like a judge, let him out again and said, ‘Well, he signed a promise that he was going to be OK.'”
Van Drew added that the Charlotte hearing also heard from families of other victims across the country, underscoring what he called a nationwide pattern of preventable tragedy caused by broken criminal justice policies.
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