Transcript: What DeCarlos Brown Jr. said about Trump during Charlotte light rail hearing
As a federal judge readied to join a state judge’s decision to declare DeCarlos Brown Jr. too mentally unwell to stand trial in the Charlotte light rail stabbing that killed Iryna Zarutska, Brown interrupted the judge and his attorneys to speak directly to the robed man seated ahead of and above him.
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What exactly Brown, a 35-year-old man with schizophrenia, said to U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell in uptown’s federal court Tuesday was unclear. He said something about “Trump” and said that “the FBI refused to investigate” something and that he wanted “to press charges,” The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
A transcript of the hearing obtained by the Observer shows exactly what Brown told the Trump-appointed judge.
Tuesday’s somewhat routine competency hearing was meant for attorneys, prosecutors and the judge to review a psychiatric report and get on the same page about Brown’s mental state and his ability — or inability — to understand the federal charges filed against him in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. Brown faces a rare 9/11-era charge in federal court tied to his killing of Zarutska specifically aboard mass transit.
The charge could result in the death penalty upon conviction, but “Our Constitution requires that … [Brown] cannot be tried or sentenced to death” while suffering from a mental illness that stunts his ability to understand what is happening, his attorneys wrote in a motion ahead of the hearing.
After Bell explained that and rehashed some details of the case, he asked Brown’s specially-appointed death penalty lawyer if he had any additional comments.
“No, Your Honor,” attorney Joshua Kendrick replied. “I would note that prior to the hearing we did give you a written statement that expressed our client’s feelings about this procedure and future proceedings. And we have explained to him that, of course, this is your courtroom as far as how the rules will work and that you have that information and will consider it in your ruling. “
“I got a copy right here for you, too,” Brown said of the paper, which read: “someone has full access to my body and they are controlling me wrongfully … I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.”
“I have a copy. I have a copy,” Bell replied.
“The same copy?” Brown asked.
“I have exactly the same copy,” Bell assured him.
“About informing Donald Trump —,” Brown began.
“Mr. Brown,” Bell interrupted.
”— that I got a body emergency,” Brown said. Bell interjected with another cautionary “Mr. Brown.”
“— that needs to be taken care of,” Brown finished.
“Mr. Brown, stop talking now,” Bell commanded.
“And the FBI refuses to investigate and I want to press charges, and I want the media to know that. That’s it,” Brown said.
“Mr. Brown, if you’re going to remain in the courtroom, you’re going to remain quiet,” Bell said.
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“I just had to get that out,” Brown responded.
Brown did not speak again until the end of the hearing. His mother came into the courtroom immediately after her son’s brief dialogue with the judge.
Bell, as expected, found Brown mentally incompetent.
“Mr. Brown is remanded to the custody of the Attorney General for evaluation,” Bell ordered, saying Brown will be checked in to a prison medical facility for up to four months of rehabilitation. “Forced medication” could be an option later on, but Brown doctors must study Brown, and he must again appear in court before that decision can be made.
“What’s going on?” Brown asked as U.S. marshals moved toward him.
“We’ll come see you,” Megan Hoffman, the first assistant federal public defender said.
“Hey, my mom got a letter for you, too, though,” Brown said to the judge. “And I want to press charges on the judge for making this court hearing. I got an emergency.”
Brown has long insisted that a “man-made material” is inside his body and controlling his every move. In January 2025, he was arrested and charged with misusing 911, a misdemeanor, after he dialed the emergency number for help with his emergency.
A magistrate judge released him within hours on the condition that he come back to court when he was supposed to. He did.
Seven months later, on Aug. 22, Brown boarded a LYNX Blue Line light rail train moving through South End Charlotte on a busy Friday night.
Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, sat in front of Brown, and he stabbed her, unprovoked. She died in her work uniform.
Brown was charged with murder in state court before U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced the federal charge. The state case is on pause until the federal case concludes. The state charge could also end in a death sentence, but North Carolina has had a de-facto moratorium on death penalties for nearly 20 years.
After Tuesday’s hearing, Ferguson said: “Our number one goal here is justice for Iryna Zarutska and Iryna Zarutska’s family. That’s what’s on the top of our minds and our hearts every day, and this is a step in that process.”
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