Editors At Wikipedia Descend Into Circular Firing Squad Over Charlotte Stabbing Article

Wikipedia editors clashed over whether to delete an article about homeless ex-convict DeCarlos Brown allegedly stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Surveillance footage published on Friday showed Brown, who had 14 prior court cases, allegedly fatally stabbing Zarutska on a light rail train on Aug. 22. A Wikipedia editor nominated the online encyclopedia’s article, “Killing of Iryna Zarutska,” for deletion, sparking a debate regarding whether it should remain.

“There are some people in social media and other venues who are trying to make this into something far greater than it really merrits,” a Wikipedia editor in favor of deletion named TiggerJay wrote. “Nothing is remarkable about this. Even the premise of the immigrant status, nor race of either person, seems to have any indication for a hate crime even. Rather just a random act of violence.”

“Definitely not delete, this killing is worldwide news, maybe it’s not on legacy media, but Ukrainian media, and social media have picked it up and called for something to be done about it,” an editor named 2601:601:D37E:C3F0:41FD:AED:3AB9:8CA8 replied. “The issue here touches on homelessness, the Ukrainian war, and some pundits have tried making it about race. This is definitely newsworthy and a reflection of the state of the culture right now.”

Axios also faced backlash on Monday for accusing supporters of President Donald Trump of using the murder to suggest that crime is worsening. After the media largely ignored the tragedy, Axios