Iryna Zarutska / 2002-2025

[temporal1]

I faced this last year on public transit...a homeless man made threatening statements to my two year old...we moved to the other side of the car. He lunged at us and I fled down the platform at the next stop. Won't be taking public transit anytime soon.

That's very scary and an unusual experience... Lot's of people ride public transit and don't experience things at that level. I've ridden public transit many times (even though not living in city) and have never seen anything like this. I love riding subways/rapid transit/etc. Millions of people use public transit daily and don't see this kind of thing very often, if ever. (Sure, strange / weird things, but not attacking people)

I have extensively used public transportation in LA, Australia, the UK, NYC, DC, SF, and Cleveland. It has become much worse in recent times, and you don’t see certain things if you are just a tourist that you do if you rely on it every day to get to and from work.

I am simply not going to take my family on public transportation if it is going to be acceptable to yell at us / scream obscenities at us based on our race; to engage in threatening behavior; and if bystanders who intervene (like Daniel Penny) instead are prosecuted.

If we take our own private car, we simply don’t have to deal with any of that.

i replied about cars in another topic / P.3 Auto Accident Fatalities
viewtopic.php?t=2204&start=20

The more i think about Iryna Zarutska, the more i hope she becomes a face for UNPROVOKED crime.
i mean, because Elon Musk and others want a public display. If so, i hope it’s a display to subdue UNPROVOKED crime.

The light rail cameras recorded a real life representation of what OFTEN happens, reported or not.
The pattern of Iryna Zarutska’s attack REPEATS.

Seeing IZ attacked, i realize, my instant fear at the moment i was attacked - much like her - without warning, from behind, i weighed 116 pounds, he was in total control, he removed me as if i weighed nothing. He grabbed my hair, put his other hand over my mouth, i feared he would slit my throat. i feared death. The next 10 years of my life were difficult. Did he even remember he did it?!

This same thing happens to men. Ambush the unprepared, unwarned.

The thing with IZ is, it’s recorded.
Unprovoked. Unarmed. Defenseless. Not responding with fight or thought of harming the attacker.

Just wanting to not-be-killed.

[JohnH]

No amount of statistics will ever make someone in your situation feel safe, t1. Real change is needed, and as peacemakers, we should want to see that change.

[temporal1]

No amount of statistics will ever make someone in your situation feel safe, t1. Real change is needed, and as peacemakers, we should want to see that change.

As days have passed, i realize the camera footage of IZ is bringing back memories as not before.
The camera shows, this is how it happens. IZ was terrified, not lashing out, just not wanting to be killed.
Even a toddler senses danger, fear of death. Powerlessness. Infants have a sense of life+death.

The will to live is God-breathed.

It took me days to realize how similar my experience was to IZ’s.
i got away. my mind went completely blank, i don’t know how i got away.
One moment i was attacked, the next i was running away. i have no idea how long it lasted. Blank.

Years later, a young man we knew told us similar happened to him.
He was on break from work, sitting outside eating lunch, attacked from behind with a knife. he got away.
Not reported.

It strikes me as a form of Russian Roulette. Most live as tho safe, mostly we are. Until.
If evil finds you, it intends to have the upper hand. Most are deliberately unprepared. Including me.

i’m a target and i know it. i choose to be defenseless. i try not to be completely stupid.

[temporal1]

Music that made me think of Iryna Z and all victims of UNPROVOKED crime.
There are many. Throughout history.

i hope whatever Elon Musk and others do for IZ’s memory, the message will be to call for an end to it.

Adagio in G Minor / -9min

Adagio in G Minor · David Parry & London Philharmonic Orchestra

For me, the camera recording, before, during, after, is what is unusual. It’s accurate.
This is what happens, no matter the description target.

It’s happened throughout history. It’s in the Bible, literature, probably operas.

Definition and Biblical Context:
Murder, as defined in the Bible, is the unlawful and premeditated taking of a human life. It is distinguished from killing in warfare or accidental death, which are treated differently in biblical law. Murder is considered a grave sin and a violation of the sanctity of life, which is a gift from God. https://biblehub.com/topical/m/murder.htm

He will receive due process.

[temporal1]

In Iryna Zarutska’s memory:

Imagine: He extended his hand .. and people took it ..
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOLURUfDYZJ/

peoplechoosingkindness WROTE:
It only takes something small to make someones day

jmackeygallery WROTE:
He extended his hand and people took it.. amazing and beautiful! We want some joy and connection!!!

1971 / John Lennon’s song is beautiful but sad.
he describes a godless utopia. that was widespread popular thinking in those days. euphoric.
i hope he accepted Christ before death, and exists with God in the eternity he imagined.

[temporal1]

Insanity is picking on someone twice your size, not half your size. Ambush is always cowardly.

[temporal1]

i’m wrestling with this.

i’m most interested in PREVENTION of unprovoked crime, not after the fact response.

North Carolina / HOUSE BILL 307: Iryna's Law
https://dashboard.ncleg.gov/api/Service ... 08(e3)-v-1

Newsweek / North Carolina Passes 'Iryna's Law' After Fatal Stabbing: What To Know
https://www.newsweek.com/iryna-zarutska ... aw-2134113

[JohnH]

Locally, I have an acquaintance who is experiencing domestic violence from a violent spouse, down to the level of being strangled by the abuser’s new partner, with their teenage daughter trying to wrestle the attacker off and calling 911. The police did pick up the assailants. The spouse had an outstanding warrant for stealing a car and the strangler did get booked for assault.

The spouse went to jail for a few days for stealing the car, then was released a few day later on a no-cash bond. The family continues to be terrified. They have lost their food stamps because the spouse sold them for drug money. When the spouse got out of jail, they came back to the family home and took all the food and left. The children are relying on school lunch to be fed until next payday.

I am sorry but I think the criminal justice system needs to be a little bit harder on defendants who are accused of:

- domestic violence
- food stamp fraud
- grand theft auto
- various traffic related offenses that led to the family’s vehicle being impounded.

The trial dates are way out in the future and so this person just runs around wreaking havoc. I asked what I could do to help (perhaps bring some meals, hold valuables so they don’t get stolen…) - here is what I was asked: “Please pray for us.”

So please do pray for L., and for the precious children who are ages 10 - 16.

Prayer works… Jesus cares… and I will also give credit to the family’s (Global) Methodist church which is stepping in to help. But the criminal justice system is pretty useless. Abusers seem to have all the rights.

[Ken]

Locally, I have an acquaintance who is experiencing domestic violence from a violent spouse, down to the level of being strangled by the abuser’s new partner, with their teenage daughter trying to wrestle the attacker off and calling 911. The police did pick up the assailants. The spouse had an outstanding warrant for stealing a car and the strangler did get booked for assault.

The spouse went to jail for a few days for stealing the car, then was released a few day later on a no-cash bond. The family continues to be terrified. They have lost their food stamps because the spouse sold them for drug money. When the spouse got out of jail, they came back to the family home and took all the food and left. The children are relying on school lunch to be fed until next payday.

I am sorry but I think the criminal justice system needs to be a little bit harder on defendants who are accused of:

- domestic violence
- food stamp fraud
- grand theft auto
- various traffic related offenses that led to the family’s vehicle being impounded.

The trial dates are way out in the future and so this person just runs around wreaking havoc. I asked what I could do to help (perhaps bring some meals, hold valuables so they don’t get stolen…) - here is what I was asked: “Please pray for us.”

So please do pray for L., and for the precious children who are ages 10 - 16.

Prayer works… Jesus cares… and I will also give credit to the family’s (Global) Methodist church which is stepping in to help. But the criminal justice system is pretty useless. Abusers seem to have all the rights.

It's not really the criminal justice system so much as the state and local government. Jailing people and trying people takes a LOT of money and a lot of staff. Most states don't fund those things anywhere near they need to in order to have speedy trials and lock people up. So, you know, legislatures have to cough up more money and people need to pay more taxes. Around here our jails are pretty full but they are way short on staff because they don't pay enough. So they don't really have any place to put new criminals unless the let others out on bail. But no one wants to raise the sales tax and property taxes in order to pay for such things.

[JohnH]

Quite an analysis you have there.

Property and sales taxes are higher than they’ve ever been in nominal terms, absolute terms, millage terms, and percentage terms. Why do they need to be even higher to have the same level of criminal justice functioning as was normal 50 years ago?