Community leader denouncing calls for troops in Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police is calling attention to violent crime in the city, pointing to what it says is a nearly 200% spike in Uptown homicides compared to last year.

The labor union released a formal request for federal law enforcement assistance, including the National Guard.

The FOP cited the August 22 killing of Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed while riding Charlotte’s light rail.

Since her death, the union stated at least 15 more people have died due to violence, suggesting federal troops could help curb the trend, a strategy President Donald Trump is using in other Democratic-led cities.

 “As we seek relief through federal and National Guard support, I urge Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, City Manager Marcus Jones and the rest of the council to back our request. I remain open to a serious, solution-driven dialogue with each of you. However, if silence and inaction persist, and staffing does not significantly improve quickly, CMPD officers will continue to seek employment with agencies that recognize and respect their service, dedication, and well-being, further worsening the staffing crisis,” said the FOP in a formal request.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles pushed back on the proposal, saying Charlotte has the resources to manage its own challenges.

“Given the time we have to work with the White House and other federal offices, we will not need the Guard to come to Charlotte,” Lyles said.

City Council member Edwin Peacock said he isn’t convinced federal troops are necessary right now but doesn’t want to take the option off the table.

“I don’t see how you could possibly say with a straight face we don’t want to keep the option of having federal help if we needed it. We haven’t been to that point, and I don’t believe we’re there, but I think we have to consider it,” Peacock said.

Peacock said the last time the National Guard was needed in Charlotte was during the 2016 protests over the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott.

“Public resources were not able to keep up with seven days of protesting and they needed to have the National Guard. I think if you’re comparing that to murder situation, it’s kind of an apple and an orange,” Peacock said.

A community leader working to combat violence says bringing in troops isn’t the answer.

Greg Jackson is the executive director of Heal Charlotte, a place-based organization revitalizing neighborhoods through holistic approaches.

His team supports over 1,000 families annually through housing stability programs, Stop the Violence CLT and after school programming and events.

“Making sure there’s equality and justice for all people inside of the city,” Jackson said.

Jackson says crime in Charlotte is real like in many cities nationwide, but believes the response should come from within neighborhoods, not from federal forces.

“I completely disagree [with deploying troops]. We are already dealing with our own internal issues inside of the city that we need to get together and manage like the public safety plans of CATS. We do not need more attention from the National Guard, we need more presence of the community,” Jackson said.

“There needs to be more presence of community leaders,” Jackson said. “Community partners, grassroots organizations, everywhere inside of the city, partnering with CATS as they form their plan to have better safety inside their public transportation, there needs to be more presence of community leaders. There are a lot of community partners and organizations doing a lot of things to make sure gun violence is prevented in the city.”

CMPD’s midyear report shows homicides are trending downward compared to last year, but work remains.

“Compared to last year I would say we’re still on the same frequency, a little bit below that,” Jackson said. “But we always want to eradicate all crime and violence inside of the city. We want to make sure all community partners are working with private institutions and the city to make sure crime is low and decreased.”

Jackson said viable solutions should come from the ground up.

“Community leaders out here doing the work and that can be funded through private institutions and other businesses that are coming to this city to keep it more of a safer city. If you are doing business with this city, you should be putting dollars into the organizations that prevent violence in this city,” Jackson said.

Our news team reached out to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Fraternal Order of Police for comment but had not heard back at the time of this report.

CMPD also declined to comment on the request for federal troops.

Spectrum News 1 was able to independently confirm through CMPD data, the agency is investigating 15 homicides since August 22.