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Another violent attack on Charlotte’s public transit unfolded on Dec. 5, when a passenger was stabbed on a Charlotte Area Transit System light rail train and left in critical but stable condition while police quickly arrested a suspect. Authorities identified the 33-year-old as Oscar Solarzano and charged him with attempted first-degree murder along with multiple weapons and assault counts. This is not an isolated incident — it is the kind of brazen violence citizens are tired of seeing on public streets and mass transit.
Reports indicate the suspect was reportedly in the country illegally and had been removed in the past, details that should alarm any American who cares about lawful immigration and public safety. Court filings and local coverage show questions about the suspect’s prior removals and his immigration status, raising obvious concerns about how someone with that background was on a downtown train. Those are not political talking points — they’re facts that demand answers from officials who swore to keep us safe.
This stabbing also comes on the heels of the high-profile, fatal Aug. 22 attack on the light rail that killed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, a case that shattered Charlotte’s sense of safety and exposed systemic failures. When violent crime on mass transit happens twice in a few months, the public has every right to ask whether city leaders, prosecutors, and the courts are doing their jobs. We can mourn victims while also demanding a reckoning for policy choices that leave citizens exposed.
Instead of taking responsibility, liberal leaders and sanctuary-style policies repeatedly deflect blame, even as Border Patrol officials publicly criticize state decisions that make enforcement harder. Local and federal enforcement sources have pointed fingers at non-cooperation policies, and conservative commentators are right to call out the absurdity of policies that prioritize political virtue signaling over simple safety. Elected officials who preside over these policies must answer to working families who ride the trains home each night.
Charlotte did announce a new “Operation Safe Season” to boost police presence just a day before this latest stabbing, a move that sounds good on paper but is obviously too little, too late if dangerous people are still slipping through cracks. Voters don’t want PR stunts; they want consistent policing, predictable enforcement of laws, and cooperation with federal immigration authorities when dangerous, previously removed individuals reappear. That means ditching sanctuary practices that tie law enforcement’s hands and restoring common-sense accountability.
There are also clear failures in the justice system that allow violent offenders to linger or avoid timely prosecution, and Mecklenburg’s backlog and understaffed prosecutor’s office deserve scrutiny. Families waiting for justice shouldn’t have to compete with bureaucratic excuses, and prosecutors should prioritize violent felonies, seek tough detainers, and stop treating dangerous repeat offenders as a political problem instead of a criminal one. Reforming calendaring, bond practices, and prosecution priorities would send a simple message: if you hurt a neighbor, you won’t be walking our streets tomorrow.
Hardworking Americans deserve leaders who will protect them — not lecture them from the safety of a city hall press room while crime rises. It’s time to elect officials who back the police, enforce immigration laws, and put public safety ahead of political optics. If Charlotte wants to be a welcoming city, it must first be a safe one, and that requires courage, enforcement, and common-sense policies that put citizens first.
