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Community members hold candles as they gather for a vigil honoring the life of Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed on a commuter train last month, Monday, Sept. 22, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Nell Redmond)

After a Ukrainian woman who fled war in her home country was stabbed to death on a commuter train in North Carolina, the alarming act of violence ignited bitter racial and political rhetoric about crime victims and perpetrators in America.

The fatal attack last month, in which the alleged perpetrator was identified as a Black man, evoked such visceral reactions partly because it was caught on surveillance video that went viral online. On Tuesday, North Carolina's Legislature passed a criminal justice packag

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