During his 2026 State of the Union address, President Donald Trump falsely claimed that the man charged with fatally stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train entered the United States through open borders; when public records confirm the suspect, Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., is a Charlotte-born American citizen.
Trump made the assertion on the night of 25 February 2026 while recognising Anna Zarutska, the victim's mother, in the chamber audience. 'She had escaped a brutal war only to be slain by a hardened criminal set free to kill in America. Came in through open borders,' the president said, according to the official Congressional address transcript.
