Mecklenburg County received $3.3 million from a Chicago-based political foundation after leaders agreed to “reduce the use of incarceration” for repeat criminals like DeCarlos Brown, Jr.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has made such grants to 57 cities, counties and states that agree to free career criminals from their jails.
Brown, 34, was a homeless schizophrenic who had been arrested at least 14 times in North Carolina, but kept out of jail, before he fatally hacked a young woman, Iryna Zarutska, to death on a Charlotte train last week.
Journalist Megan Basham used social media to spotlight how the MacArthur Foundation’s program produced deadly results in Charlotte. According to her X, the Foundation paid Mecklenburg County $3.3 million to reduce incarceration, but that money helped ensure a man with 14 prior arrests was free to kill. The tweet’s stark framing captured national attention by connecting philanthropy dollars directly to bloodshed. Basham’s criticism highlights how well-funded elite initiatives can look noble on paper but turn disastrous in practice. For critics, it was a devastating example of philanthropy putting ideology over safety.
The MacArthur Foundation’s Safety and Justice Challenge offers large grants to counties and states that commit to shrinking their jail populations. Local governments must adopt strategies such as pretrial release, diversion, or eliminating bail for certain categories of offenders. While promoted as a way to reduce “over-incarceration,” the program effectively requires officials to keep career criminals in circulation. The Foundation tracks progress in terms of reduced jail numbers, not reduced crime. In Mecklenburg County, that philosophy meant dangerous offenders like Brown repeatedly avoided jail time.
Brown’s case demonstrates how jail-reduction policies can lead to catastrophic outcomes. Despite at least 14 arrests in North Carolina, Brown was not jailed long-term. He was widely known to be schizophrenic and homeless, but was still allowed to circulate freely under “reform” policies. The August 2024 train murder has become a rallying point for critics of MacArthur’s approach.
The MacArthur Foundation’s policies originate from Chicago boardrooms, not local communities. President John Palfrey and trustees like Martha Minow and Daniel Huttenlocher direct the money that reshapes justice systems around the country. These decision-makers sit far from the consequences, while tragedies unfold in places like Charlotte. The case shows how Chicago elites’ philanthropy translates into local bloodshed.
The Charlotte train murder was not just a North Carolina story — it was made in Chicago. By financing jail-reduction pledges, the MacArthur Foundation tied its reputation and resources to the release of a man who went on to kill. The tragedy reveals the cost of elite philanthropy’s experiment in “justice reform.”
