RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Republicans in North Carolina and beyond are making a concerted effort to turn the stabbing death of a Ukrainian woman on a Charlotte commuter train into a political liability for Democratic former Gov. Roy Cooper in his bid to win a key U.S. Senate race that is still more than a year away.

GOP candidate Michael Whatley has said Cooper bears “direct responsibility” for the deadly Aug. 22 attack on Iryna Zarutska because of a commission he created in June 2020 to address racial inequity in the criminal justice system. The panel’s unveiling occurred weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

But Cooper’s campaign said Whatley, a recent Republican National Committee chairman, was lying about the task force. Cooper “knows North Carolini

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