Harmeet K. Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice, said on Monday that her office is looking at a potential racial motivation behind the brutal, unprovoked murder of a Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dhillon, speaking to host Benny Johnson, also said she’s looking into why Democrat Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles thanked “media partners” for not airing the full footage of the attack, suggesting there could be an “antitrust” issue and mainstream media coordination.

The 23-year-old victim, Zarutska, who is white, was returning from her job at a local pizzeria when suspect Decarlos Brown Jr., who is black, allegedly stabbed her repeatedly in the neck.

“To draw the conclusion that it was racially targeted, you’d want to see what his prior victims look like,” Dhillon said, when asked if her office was investigating the incident. “I would want to know that evidence before I reach any conclusions, and so we’re certainly looking at this fact pattern.”

“One thing that drew my attention regarding the mayor’s comments regarding this situation is her reference to thanking her media partners for suppressing this video,” she continued. “That leads to a question — we’ve seen other instances of this, of mainstream media coordination. Whether this is an instance, or this nationally is an instance in which mainstream media partners of these left-wing cities are coordinating to suppress significant crime like this from being reported where there may be a racial angle to it.”

“That might be an antitrust issue, it might be other issues as well,” Dhillon said. “Why are we not seeing this disturbing incident and footage on all the news shows at night when we saw the same with respect to George Floyd? That’s a real serious question, and all the people in this department may want to look at that.”

🚨BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Assistant AG for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon announces federal investigations in Charlotte over possible federal civil rights violations for racially biased judgement.

This follows the brutal murder of innocent Iryna Zarutska by a repeat offender who had… pic.twitter.com/FDlWrh5H2s

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 8, 2025

As referenced by Dhillon, Mayor Lyles thanked “our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family.”

The case has sparked outrage, both over the liberal city’s crime policies regarding the suspect, who has a lengthy rap sheet, and the extremely limited mainstream media coverage of the crime. Lyles, specifically, has received much backlash for her statements following the tragedy.

Not only did Charlotte Democrat Mayor Lyles refuse to condemn the lunatic repeat offender who stabbed a woman to death on the train, but she suggested we should actually have compassion for him. pic.twitter.com/8DufqC9YnF

— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) September 7, 2025

Related: Fatal Charlotte Stabbing Highlights The Failure Of Racial Equity Policies

Pop star Sabrina Carpenter threw her support behind “trans rights” during her performance at the VMAs on Sunday night.

The 26-year-old singer made the overtures while promoting her new single “Tears,” a track from her latest album called “Man’s Best Friend.” After arriving onstage via a manhole, she was joined by a cast of dancers dressed in drag. They included known drag stars from the competition show “RuPaul’s Drag Race” such as Honey Balenciaga, Symone, Dashaun Wesley, and Richie Shazam. Colman Domingo, who also appears in Carpenter’s music video for the single, was also there.

The people in drag next proceeded to pull out picket signs with wording such as “protect trans rights,” “Dolls dolls dolls,” “In trans we trust,” “we are everywhere,” “for the theys and the gays,” and “If you hate you’ll never get laid.” That last message was likely a reference to Carpenter’s single, “Never Getting Laid.”

Carpenter seemed to allude to her stance later while accepting the award for Best Album.

“I’m just the luckiest girl in the world,” the “Manchild” singer said during her speech. “And I do want to say to my incredible cast and dancers and my queens on stage with me tonight: This world, as we all know, can be so full of criticism and discrimination and negativity, so to get to be part of something – so often more than not – that is something that can bring you light, make you smile, make you dance, and make you feel like the world is your … oyster, I’m so grateful to do that.”

The internet was not on board with Carpenter’s stance.

“Right after a trans person shot up a school in Minnesota? This feels insensitive tbh. Maybe I’m wrong?” one person replied.

“Literally supporting a terrorist cult. So brave, so inclusive,” another agreed.

“Pushing the agenda in all of our faces,” echoed a third commenter.

This isn’t the first time Carpenter made controversial moves. Last November, the pop singer was criticized for filming a provocative music video inside a Catholic church, which many critics said was disrespectful and blasphemous.

The Diocese of Brooklyn condemned the video upon its release, with Bishop Brennan saying he was “appalled at what was filmed at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Brooklyn,” as The Daily Wire previously reported.