L-R: Joni Ernst, Chuck Grassley, Mariannette Miller-Meeks

In case you missed it, there was a terrible murder in Charlotte, North Carolina last month. It was a tragedy that does not deserve to be a talking point for Republicans to make fake arguments about crime and shamelessly use the woman’s death as a convenient opportunity to blame Democrats for everything (see my post earlier this week, Campaign 2026: Beware Of Dirty Tricks).   But that is what they are doing.

I would like to point out that the hypocrisy is obvious. We didn’t see much Republican outrage about state legislator Melissa Hortman and her husband who who were killed at their home in Minnesota in June. We’ve had a school shooting in our own state of Iowa in 2024, yet Republicans can’t find their way to find outrage about America’s gun problem. Nor did we hear much outrage from Joni Ernst when a constituent at Ernst’s town hall brought up that her vote on Medicaid cuts meant people would die. Everyone heard Ernst respond by reminding us “well, we all are going to die.”   So their crocodile tears and fake outrage now are not credible. It’s easy to see what they are doing, as laid out here in the NYTimes.

The New York Times:

“The police arrested Decarlos Brown Jr. soon after and charged him with first-degree murder. But the brutal killing did not capture widespread attention until the security footage was released on Friday, at which point it became an accelerant for conservative arguments about crime, race and the perceived failings of big-city justice systems and mainstream news outlets in the Trump era.

The outrage over the Charlotte killing is a part of a pattern in which President Trump and his allies highlight horrific crimes to bolster their case that the country is plagued by “American carnage,” as Mr. Trump put it in his first inaugural address, despite statistics that show crime is dropping. In Charlotte, overall crime was down by 8 percent in the first half of this year compared with the same period last year, according to the police, while violent crime was down by 25 percent.  NYT

Judge for yourself. Below is a copy/paste of Mariannette Miller-Meeks’ newsletter to constituents using a story from The National News Desk, a daily television news program produced by the Sinclair Broadcast Group. Wikipedia

Notice the newsletter does not include the story, but only the headline and the photo, followed by Miller-Meeks’ message to constituents using the same old Republican talking points dating all the way back to Ronald Reagan.

SAY HER NAME

Dear Fellow Iowan,

Iryna Zarutska was just 23 years old. She fled the war in Ukraine, survived Russia’s bombs, and came to America in search of safety.

But in Charlotte, she was brutally murdered on a light rail train, by a career criminal who should never have been free to roam the streets.

This tragedy is not an accident. It is the direct result of failed progressive policies that put violent repeat offenders ahead of innocent victims. Soft-on-crime policies have turned too many American cities into danger zones, and if they had their way, Iowa would be next.

No family should ever have to live in fear that a dangerous criminal, released again and again, will destroy their lives.

That’s why I’m fighting to ensure violent criminals stay behind bars where they belong. Public safety must always come first.

But I want to hear from you:

Do you support keeping violent repeat offenders locked up?

In Congress, I will continue working to protect Iowa families and make sure tragedies like Iryna’s never happen here.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mariannette Miller-Meeks