On August 22, 2025, Iryna Zarutska was murdered while riding the light rail in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina — her murder, caught on film, shocked the nation, and Michael Whatley — who is running for North Carolina’s open Senate seat — is arguing that his opponent, Gov. Roy Cooper (D., N.C.) “was an abject failure at that number one priority when he was attorney general and when he was the Governor of North Carolina.”
In his latest interview with the Washington Reporter, Whatley argued that Cooper was in fact “the worst governor in the history of North Carolina.” Cooper’s “decisions throughout his entire career as attorney general and governor always put criminals ahead of their victims and ahead of North Carolina families.”
“Think about Roy Cooper’s decisions when it came to law enforcement — this is a guy who, when Antifa and BLM were burning down North Carolina cities in 2020, did not call in the National Guard to put down the riots,” Whatley argued. “In fact, he took off his COVID mask, raised his fist, went out, and he marched with them. This is a guy who vetoed legislation that would have forced sheriffs to honor ICE detainers and get criminal illegals out of North Carolina. This is a guy who set up a revolving door with pretrial release and cashless bail to put criminals back on the streets again and again after they’d been arrested sometimes 20, 30, 40, 50 times or more.”
Polling has shown that Cooper remains favored over Whatley, in part due to name recognition he has from years as a statewide elected official in North Carolina, but Whatley argues that Cooper’s decades in elected office are actually a liability.
“As soon as the paperwork was done, they were right back on the streets,” Whatley argued of Cooper’s record. “And of course, he released 4,200 criminals, the worst of the worst. These are pedophiles and rapists and murderers. 700 of them had been convicted for felony assault, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, and rape. 80 plus had been arrested for murder, and been convicted, and dozens had been serving life sentences. What happens when you put that many criminals back out on the streets? They immediately turned around and unleashed a crime wave across North Carolina with very, very tragic results.”
One of those consequences, Whatley explained to the Reporter, was Zarutska’s murder, for which he blamed Cooper’s “soft on crime policies.”
“The reason that Decarlos Brown Jr. was back on the streets, despite having been arrested 14 times and released 14 times, was because of Roy Cooper’s soft on crime policies,” Whatley said of Zarutska’s alleged murderer. “Think about this: why was this monster on that car?” Whatley argued. “Why was he on the streets of Charlotte? That’s because Roy Cooper set up a revolving door and unleashed people like Decarlos Brown Jr. across the state.”
Following Zarutska’s murder, Whatley — who has never held elected office — took action. “After her murder, I called on the North Carolina legislature to pass legislation to overturn Cooper’s policies. I am very glad that they moved very quickly to pass Iryna’s Law, and it says a lot that Josh Stein, a Democratic governor who replaced Cooper, signed that bill into law because he knew that Cooper’s soft-time crime policies were leading to tragic results all across North Carolina.”
That law, named after Iryna, has already made North Carolinians safer, Whatley argued. “Iryna’s Law is very important because it is going to keep criminals off the streets once they have been arrested,” he said. “We just saw an instance where a gentleman was arrested in Charlotte who had been arrested and released many, many times, 20 times or more, for just randomly picking out women and assaulting them in Charlotte. He was arrested and because of Iryna’s Law, this guy is not being released back onto the streets.”
Whatley also credited President Donald Trump, his close ally, for helping keep Americans safe across the country. “I also think that President Trump and his initiatives to make sure that we are putting criminals behind bars, as well as as securing the border and stopping the flow of migrant criminals and fentanyl into our communities has resulted in a drastic reduction of murder across the board,” Whatley explained. “We’ve seen the biggest decline in murders in the history of the country since President Trump got into office. I think that that is all very, very important, and I know from the conversations that I’m having with sheriffs and law enforcement officers all across North Carolina that they are going to continue to work every single day to get these monsters off the streets. But we have got to have magistrates and judges in North Carolina that are going to be willing to keep them behind bars where they belong.”
During Whatley’s campaign, he and his allies have trained the spotlight right on Cooper. “I did not ever hear Cooper utter a word about this bill,” he said.
“We need to keep our kids and our communities safe,” Whatley said. “That’s the bottom line, and I will always back the blue in their mission to do that. Whether it is financial support that can come from the federal government through grants, or if it’s education, or if it’s training, or whatever opportunities that there are for us to be able to support local law enforcement, we need to be able to take them up on that. We have been endorsed by the PBA, by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Troopers’ Association, and sheriffs all across North Carolina.”
His message to North Carolina’s law enforcement is simple: he has their backs, and he told the Reporter that they in turn “are grateful that they have a candidate that they can back who is going to support what they’re doing and support their mission.” Throughout his campaign, he has held events across the state speaking directly to communities about the criminals that Cooper released into their communities highlighting the destruction Cooper allowed to occur in communities across North Carolina after he released 4,200 hardened felons from prison early.
But Whatley is not alone in making this case; both the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) and the Senate Leadership Fund (SLF) are tag-teaming in this messaging. The Whatley campaign, along with the NRSC and SLF, roll out weekly Mugshot Mondays, Worst Wednesdays, and Felon Fridays, to spotlight Cooper’s record on criminal justice — the campaigns have been going on for months with no overlap.
While Cooper’s millions are poised to help him in the race’s home stretch, Whatley — a former Chair of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and of the North Carolina Republican Party — has seen candidates win tough races in the past.
His advice to himself, as a former RNC Chair, is that “good policy is good politics, particularly in this case.”
“Even if there was no political benefit to fighting for safe kids and safe communities, I would still do it,” he added. “That is the highest calling when you’re running for office. But the fact is that when people in North Carolina find out Roy Cooper’s record, and find out that he has always sided with criminals and illegal aliens over their victims and families of North Carolina, that has a political impact in this race.”
Below is an interview with Michael Whatley, lightly edited for clarity.
Washington Reporter:
In your campaign for Senate, you’re running against Roy Cooper, who is a former attorney general and a former governor of North Carolina, and yet you’re the one making public safety a driving issue of your campaign. But it’s not just Roy Cooper — a lot of Democrats around the country are on the defense about crime. From your standpoint, both as the person who ran the Republican Party, and now as a candidate running against Cooper, where did this come from?
Michael Whatley:
It came from Roy Cooper being the worst governor in the history of North Carolina; his decisions throughout his entire career as attorney general and governor always put criminals ahead of their victims and ahead of North Carolina families. Think about Roy Cooper’s decisions when it came to law enforcement — this is a guy who, when Antifa and BLM were burning down North Carolina cities in 2020, did not call in the National Guard to put down the riots. In fact, he took off his COVID mask, raised his fist, went out, and he marched with them. This is a guy who vetoed legislation that would have forced sheriffs to honor ICE detainers and get criminal illegals out of North Carolina. This is a guy who set up a revolving door with pretrial release and cashless bail to put criminals back on the streets again and again after they’d been arrested sometimes 20, 30, 40, 50 times or more. As soon as the paperwork was done, they were right back on the streets. And of course, he released 4,200 criminals, the worst of the worst. These are pedophiles and rapists and murderers. 700 of them had been convicted for felony assault, aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, sexual assault, and rape. 80 plus had been arrested for murder, and been convicted, and dozens had been serving life sentences. What happens when you put that many criminals back out on the streets? They immediately turned around and unleashed a crime wave across North Carolina with very, very tragic results.
Washington Reporter:
One of those results was the horrific murder of Iryna Zarutska, which was caught on film on a light rail in North Carolina. How did this video first come across your transom? What was your initial thought when you saw this?
Michael Whatley:
It was horrific. Her murderer is a monster who should have never been on that light rail car. He should have never been on the streets, and Iryna Zarutska should be alive today. I saw it on the news the same way that everybody across the country saw it on the news. Think about this: why was this monster on that car? Why was he on the streets of Charlotte? That’s because Roy Cooper set up a revolving door and unleashed people like Decarlos Brown Jr. across the state.
Washington Reporter:
One of the things that has happened since this murder was the passage in North Carolina of Iryna’s Law; tell me about that law and what Cooper has said about it. How has that been playing with voters?
Michael Whatley:
Among all the things that are going on, the reason that Decarlos Brown Jr. was back on the streets, despite having been arrested 14 times and released 14 times, was because of Roy Cooper’s soft on crime policies. And after her murder, I called on the North Carolina legislature to pass legislation to overturn Cooper’s policies. I am very glad that they moved very quickly to pass Iryna’s Law, and it says a lot that Josh Stein, a Democratic governor who replaced Cooper, signed that bill into law because he knew that Cooper’s soft-time crime policies were leading to tragic results all across North Carolina.
Washington Reporter:
You were pushing for this. Is it fair to categorize Cooper as having had no position on this bill?
Michael Whatley:
I did not ever hear Cooper utter a word about this bill.
Washington Reporter:
Between your campaign and your allies at the NRSC and at SLF, you are all rolling out three days a week of content called Mugshot Mondays, Worst Wednesdays, and Felon Fridays, spotlighting the criminals who Roy Cooper let out of prison. One thing that I’ve noticed is there’s no overlap of the criminals who have been spotlighted by you and your allies. How does this play out on the campaign trail? Have voters started to realize that Cooper, who was a longtime AG in your state, actually has this record?
Michael Whatley:
People are starting to pay attention. This is starting to resonate with the voters of North Carolina; the fact is, 2,200 of the criminals that Cooper released have since been re-arrested, and 600 of them have been re-arrested for violent crimes, like assault, assault with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault. 99 of them have been re-arrested for child pornography, for sexual assault, or for rape, and 25, including Decarlos Brown Jr., have been re-arrested for murder. As tragic as this story is, it is only one of 25 stories of North Carolinians who have an empty seat at the dinner table, at 25 different tables at Thanksgiving of this year, at Christmas of this year, at Easter of next year, and forever, because Cooper put these criminals back on the streets. The number one function of any government, local government, state government, or federal government, is protecting its citizens, and Roy Cooper was an abject failure at that number one priority when he was attorney general and when he was the Governor of North Carolina. It is important for me as a candidate and for the folks that are engaged in this race to have that conversation with the voters, and for the voters to understand that Roy Cooper really truly was bowing down at the altar of the woke, the extreme, the radical elements of the Democratic Party with his soft on crime policy, but he was doing this long before DSA started saying that they want to let people out of prisons.
Washington Reporter:
One of the things you’ve also rolled out in your own campaign is a series of high-profile endorsements, from North Carolina law enforcement. What is your message to law enforcement about what you want to do for them?
Michael Whatley:
We need to keep our kids and our communities safe. That’s the bottom line, and I will always back the blue in their mission to do that. Whether it is financial support that can come from the federal government through grants, or if it’s education, or if it’s training, or whatever opportunities that there are for us to be able to support local law enforcement, we need to be able to take them up on that. We have been endorsed by the PBA, by the Fraternal Order of Police, the Troopers’ Association, and sheriffs all across North Carolina; they are grateful that they have a candidate that they can back who is going to support what they’re doing and support their mission.
Washington Reporter:
You were talking about how the number one job of any level of government is public safety. In this election, affordability is viewed as a top issue; where does public safety rank as you talk with voters across North Carolina in their list of priorities? Is it above affordability? Is it below it?
Michael Whatley:
It’s right up there. When we talk about the priorities for any family across North Carolina, for any community across North Carolina, making sure that we have public safety is always going to be a huge issue. It’s usually not a tremendously important issue in a statewide federal race for Senate, because both candidates are generally going to have similar views in terms of the importance of keeping the public safe, and it really is only an issue in this race because Roy Cooper was so catastrophically bad on these issues.
Washington Reporter:
With new leadership in North Carolina since Cooper left, is it safer now to for North Carolinians trying to get home, and to get to work, to ride busses in public?
Michael Whatley:
Yes. Iryna’s Law is very important because it is going to keep criminals off the streets once they have been arrested. We just saw an instance where a gentleman was arrested in Charlotte who had been arrested and released many, many times, 20 times or more, for just randomly picking out women and assaulting them in Charlotte. He was arrested and because of Iryna’s Law, this guy is not being released back onto the streets. I think that’s tremendously important. I also think that President Trump and his initiatives to make sure that we are putting criminals behind bars, as well as as securing the border and stopping the flow of migrant criminals and fentanyl into our communities has resulted in a drastic reduction of murder across the board. We’ve seen the biggest decline in murders in the history of the country since President Trump got into office. I think that that is all very, very important, and I know from the conversations that I’m having with sheriffs and law enforcement officers all across North Carolina that they are going to continue to work every single day to get these monsters off the streets. But we have got to have magistrates and judges in North Carolina that are going to be willing to keep them behind bars where they belong.
Washington Reporter:
What would RNC Chair Michael Whatley say to Senate candidate Michael Whatley to make sure that you take this message across North Carolina and can take it to the Senate next year?
Michael Whatley:
This is tremendously important. Good policy is good politics, particularly in this case. Even if there was no political benefit to fighting for safe kids and safe communities, I would still do it. That is the highest calling when you’re running for office. But the fact is that when people in North Carolina find out Roy Cooper’s record, and find out that he has always sided with criminals and illegal aliens over their victims and families of North Carolina, that has a political impact in this race.
