The Charlotte City Council is being slammed for approving $3.4 million to hire a PR company to clean up the reputation of their public transportation after a string of recent stabbings.

The city’s latest action comes after two widely-publicized stabbings, including one that ended fatally on Charlotte’s train system and sparked a national conversation on rising crime and lax prosecution in urban areas of the country. On Tuesday, Republican North Carolina Rep. Mark Harris called out the “pro-crime Democrats in Charlotte” for spending the cash on “misleading ads” rather than choosing to “invest in REAL safety to prevent another tragedy like Iryna Zarutska’s brutal murder.”

“No amount of marketing will cause us to forget Iryna,” Harris wrote.

Local radio host Nick Craig called out local leaders on X Tuesday for using the funds “on ads telling you everything is fine” rather than “fixing safety.”

Pro-crime Democrats in Charlotte are doing everything they possibly can EXCEPT FOR ACTUALLY ADDRESSING CRIME. https://t.co/azb5FlLHoQ

— Rep. Mark Harris (@RepMarkHarrisNC) December 9, 2025

Honduran illegal immigrant Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia allegedly stabbed a man using a “large fixed-blade knife” on a Charlotte train Friday, according to The Charlotte Observer.

Solorzano-Garcia was deported on two separate occasions before the attack and had a lengthy rap sheet for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, using a false ID, along with convictions for robbery and illegal re-entry.

It came just four months after the unprovoked murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, in Charlotte by a man with at least 14 prior arrests for offenses such as armed robbery and assault with a deadly weapon.

Decarlos Brown Jr. served five years for the robbery, but got off on time served, probation, or community service in most of his other cases.

He allegedly stabbed Zarutska repeatedly in the neck as she was commuting from her job at a local pizzeria.

The Trump administration responded to Charlotte’s crime surge and sanctuary policies by deploying federal immigration agents to carry out what they dubbed “Operation Charlotte’s Web,” which resulted in hundreds of arrests of illegal immigrants.

Comedian David Spade is calling out a mall in Michigan for hosting a Christmas tree lighting ceremony that intentionally omitted the word “Christmas.”

Spade described what happened during a recent episode of his podcast, “Fly on the Wall,” which he hosts alongside fellow comedian and “SNL” alum Dana Carvey. 

“I will say that Christmas is taking a little bit of a beating lately. It is December and I saw the other day there was a tree lighting ceremony for the Christmas tree in some dopey mall… but it said tree lighting ceremony, and they were careful not to say the word Christmas during the whole ceremony,” Spade said during the episode.

The “Joe Dirt” star did not identify which mall he was referring to, only claiming it was in Michigan.

“Why?” Spade went on. “So it’s just a tree? And you go, I would understand if you said, ‘They’re doing the tree lighting at [the mall] or whatever. You go, ‘OK.’ But to consciously avoid that, then what is the tree for?” he continued. “A December to Remember? Is it a Lexus dealership? Why do we have… for the whole month? Isn’t it for Christmas?”

Carvey chimed in to say plenty of non-Christians he knew were not offended by Christmas despite it being a Christian holiday.

“I’d say stop that bullsh*t,” Spade went on. “They like all things about it, [just] don’t say that word.”

Spade said it was ridiculous that establishments were willing to dance around the word without stating it. The podcast hosts also claimed Christmas has been commandeered by the secular crowd anyway.

“If you’re of faith, it’s about Christianity,” Carvey said. “But I think at this point in America, it’s just Christmas. It’s a fun holiday. I don’t like the thought police. I don’t like to have words I can’t use.”

Spade identified himself as a Christian, but also said he was “more spiritual” when Carvey described him as “lapsed.” The comedian further referenced the current persecution of Christians in African countries such as Nigeria.

“We’re taking a beating down in Africa,” he said. “It’s like this is not the year to be Christian. I will tell you that.”