CJ Pearson, Co-Chair of the GOP Youth Advisory Council, said that bystanders failed to assist Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska after she was randomly attacked and bled to death on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina. This statement was made on X.
“It just gets even worse,” said Pearson. “Not a single person sitting next to Iryna Zartuska on the train even made the slightest attempt to help her as she sat there bleeding to death. Where is the humanity?”
On August 22, 2025, Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was fatally stabbed in a random attack aboard a Charlotte light rail train. According to ABC7, surveillance footage showed bystanders failing to intervene as she bled to death. The incident has sparked public outrage and debate about safety and bystander inaction.
According to Eurostat, the European Union recorded 1,567 significant railway accidents in 2023. These incidents resulted in 841 fatalities and 569 serious injuries. Most deaths involved unauthorized persons on tracks (58.4%) or level crossings (26.6%), highlighting ongoing transit safety challenges.
A study published in the European Heart Journal in 2023 reported that bystander CPR rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrests in Europe range from 13% to 82.6%, with an average of 47.9%. The study indicated stark national differences influenced by cultural norms, training, and public awareness campaigns.
Pearson, born in Georgia in 2002, is a conservative activist who gained attention as a teenager for his political commentary. According to his Wikipedia biography, he now serves as Co-Chair of the Republican National Committee Youth Advisory Council and previously founded groups such as Young Georgians in Government and Teens for Trump.
