Vice President Vance addresses Iryna's Law, support for law enforcement in Concord visit

CONCORD, N.C. (WTVD) -- Less than 24 hours after Iryna's Law passed the North Carolina House and was sent to the governor's desk, Vice President JD Vance visited Concord to speak about supporting law enforcement in the wake of the Charlotte light-rail attack that left 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee, dead.

The vice president criticized what he called soft-on-crime policies that allowed suspect Decarlos Brown to go free, while praising state lawmakers for swiftly passing that bill this week.

"Because of soft-on-crime policies, she was murdered here, not in the war-torn country she came from," Vance said, referring to Zarutska, for whom the law is named.

Vance said policies supported by Democrats allowed her alleged killer to stay on the street pending a court hearing.

"This is not a black-white issue; we've got a small percentage of violent criminals in our communities, Democrats want to let them out of prison, and Republicans want to put them in prison and keep them there so all of us are safe in the process," he said.

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Iryna's Law eliminates cashless bail and establishes new requirements for pretrial release for violent offenses, among other reforms. Vance said law enforcement did its job in arresting Brown several times.

"They did everything that they could, and it was the political leadership that failed, and we need to be honest about that," he said.

This week, ABC11 sat down with Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman, who said she believes more resources should be dedicated to the mental health programs that could have helped Brown, whose family has said they believe he's schizophrenic.

"Certainly, increasingly we have seen people coming into the criminal justice system, into our local jails that need significant mental health services," Freeman said.

The North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police applauded the efforts to keep communities safe.

"The passage of Iryna's Law marks progress in keeping violent offenders behind bars rather than on the streets," said Chip Hawley, President of the NCACP.

Hawley said the NCACP. representing chiefs across the state, supports "any legislation that strengthens enforcement and enhances community safety."

"While the death of this young girl deeply saddens me, I hope this new law, in her name, makes a difference in every community throughout North Carolina," Hawley added.