West Cook News

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 “justice reform.” The bluntness of her framing sparked wide outrage across social media. In doing so, Basham put the spotlight back on Chicago elites whose policies had deadly consequences in another state.

The Safety and Justice Challenge is headquartered in Chicago but operates nationally. Since 2015, the MacArthur Foundation has awarded more than $300 million across 57 jurisdictions, including Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago’s own Cook County. Each grantee agrees to reduce incarceration rates and report back progress to MacArthur. This has created a system where reducing jail numbers becomes the central measure of success, even if violent offenders slip through. Mecklenburg County’s deal with MacArthur is only one example of a much larger philanthropic experiment. 

DeCarlos Brown Jr. points out the dangers of prioritizing “jail reduction” over public safety. With at least 14 prior arrests, he had already shown a clear pattern of violent and unstable behavior. His schizophrenia and homelessness made him even more volatile, but under Mecklenburg’s grant agreement, he was repeatedly released instead of confined. On August 8, 2024, Brown struck down 28-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train with a hatchet, shocking the community. For critics, the killing shows what happens when criminal justice reform prizes statistics over lives.

At the center of these decisions is the MacArthur Foundation’s leadership in Chicago. President John Palfrey oversees billions in assets and guides strategy, while the board features prominent figures like Martha Minow (Harvard Law), Daniel Huttenlocher (MIT), and Kathryn Fuller (World Wildlife Fund). They frame their grantmaking as promoting fairness and equity, but critics argue they are disconnected from the real-world effects of their policies. The murder in Charlotte links their elite decisions directly to a brutal killing. It demonstrates how philanthropy crafted in Chicago can have violent consequences in distant communities.

The Charlotte train murder is not only a North Carolina tragedy — it is a Chicago story. The money that kept repeat offender DeCarlos Brown on the streets came from the MacArthur Foundation’s headquarters on Michigan Avenue. For victims like Iryna Zarutska, the consequences of elite philanthropy’s jail-reduction policies proved fatal.