CHARLOTTE, N.C. — US Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Monday the federal government will investigate Charlotte's public transit system following the August stabbing death of a Ukrainian woman on the city's light rail , threatening to withhold federal funding from cities that cannot keep their transit systems safe.

"If mayors can't keep their trains and buses safe, they don't deserve the taxpayers' money," Duffy wrote in a statement posted on social media.

The announcement comes three weeks after Iryna Zarutska, 23, was stabbed to death on the LYNX Blue Line by a stranger who attacked her without provocation. Decarlos Brown faces first-degree murder charges in the Aug. 22 killing.

Duffy said his department "will be investigating Charlotte over its failure to protect

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