The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, headquartered in Chicago, gave $3.3 million to Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, to reduce jail use. Under this program, repeat criminals like DeCarlos Brown Jr. were released instead of being jailed.

Brown, a homeless schizophrenic with at least 14 prior arrests, remained free until he fatally hacked a young woman, Iryna Zarutska, to death on a Charlotte train in August 2024.

Megan Basham’s X post drew a straight line between elite Chicago philanthropy and violence in Charlotte. According to her post, MacArthur’s $3.3 million grant was meant to cut jail populations but instead allowed a known, violent offender to roam free. Her critique resonated because it highlighted the absurdity of releasing repeat criminals in the name of “justic

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