Federal grand jury indicts Decarlos Brown (10-23-2025--Hour1)

What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to vpeclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support. All right, so an update on. You Detroit on the Catawba, as Jeff Taylor with the mech Deck blog used to call us. We have the alleged. Murderer who was caught on video murdering Arena Zerutzka on the light rail train back in August to Carlos Brown is his name. He's accused and charged of murdering Arena Zerutzka. That was August twenty second. He has now been indicted on federal charges. And this is happening so often, like part of it, I wonder, you know, is it? Is it good optics? Good politics? Right? And sometimes good politics. Is the right thing to do it just they overlap, right, And so I wonder is it you want to be seen as fighting crime, getting tough on crime, because Republicans are going to just hang this around the neck of every Democrat across the country, all of the uh these catch and release crime jurisdictions like we have in Charlotte, and they're just going to keep hammering away at this because it is an issue that matters to citizens. And as I mentioned before, Republican candidates have been doing this to Democrats ever since the Summer of fiery but mostly peaceful riots, and they have been doing so with great success, particularly in North Carolina state legislative races and such. Now it doesn't really you know, it's harder to make it work at a national level, but you can get some traction, obviously, particularly if you have an opponent who is running who used to be an attorney general and then became governor and then did a whole bunch of racial equity task for stuff. In light of the. Racial reckoning that required us to burn and loot cities for about a year. So that may be part of it, you know, politicking and getting these charges at a federal level, that could be part of it. I also wonder if part of it is a lack of confidence in the local prosecutors and the local court system, including local jurors, to actually follow through and hold criminals accountable. So the federal charges would be a backstop, or maybe it would be the first bite at the apple, right, it would be the federal case comes forward first, and then if convicted, the state wouldn't even bother putting de Carlos Brown on trial. They did delay one of his hearings. What are they called the rule twenty, I think is what it's called, and we don't know why that got delayed. It was at the request of De Carlos Brown's attorney, which I expect the attorney to put up the best defense they can of their client, right, So I'm not criticizing the attorney for de Carlos Brown Junior. I suspect what they are trying to do is get him adjudicated as mentally impaired, right, so you can't convict by reason of insanity. That's what I suspect the defense will be is that he's crazy and so you can't convict him of murder. We don't know if the district attorney is going to seek the death penalty. Spencer, Merriweather and Mecklenburg County has not made that announcement as far as I've seen so far, you know, as of this morning. But with the FEDS now coming in and indicting him, he's got more breathing room. Also, he's got a governor in Josh Stein that is probably not going to allow a death penalty sentence to be carried out, even if they were to actually go to trial at any point in the next four or eight years that Josh Stein is in office, if he were to win reelection. So I don't know if that's part of the calculation. And look, death penalty trials are much harder, takes a lot more you know, manpower, a lot more resources, there's a high or sort of bar to clear at sentencing. It also is harder sometimes to get a conviction if the jury knows that it's a death penalty case, right, so they may not want to actually go to a sentencing phase where that's even on the table. So they may very well not convict on the death penalty eligible charges. All of that is part of the calculation that has to be made. So today we find out actually yesterday afternoon, I guess it was that a grand jury in the western North Carolina US District Court issued an indictment for violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death. That is a federal charge, and so that's what's. Being used by the US Attorney in the Western District here, which includes Charlotte. That's the charge that's being used to go after to Carlos Brown, because otherwise, you know, just murder is a state charge. That's why it's always the State of North Carolina versus de Carlos Brown or whoever the defendant is. The state is bringing those charges. Right. Brown is facing a state charge of first degree murder in the killing of Arena Zerutzka. The family issued a statement following the federal indictment saying the family is pleased the federal grand jury returned the indictment against Carlos Brown, Junior. We are hopeful for swift justice. And that's another thing. The Feds may actually be able to try this case more rapidly than the state, which is kind of crazy when you think about it, because he is literally on video. We have the entire video, it has audio as well. There really isn't any doubt, right, like I am like when it comes to the death penalty. I in my life, I have gone back and forth on this. I used to support it, now not so much. And it's not for any other reason. Then I don't trust the government. That's what it comes down to for me is I don't trust the government, and I don't think the government should be taking the lives of innocent people. And there are too many examples of the government doing just that. However, in this case, I'm not really sure what other evidence could possibly come to light except for somebody, you know, I don't know, admitting that they're actually to Carlos Brown Junior, or they did some AI manipulation of the video or something like. I don't know what else you could present that would say, yeah, they got the wrong guy. They got the right guy. They got him within like six minutes of the initial nine to one one call. He was on the platform, he had the murder weapon, he had her blood all over it, He had his blood because he cut himself when he stabbed her again on video, completely unprovoked, no communication between him and the victim. If convicted on the federal charge, he could get life in prison or the death penalty, and then, according to Queen City News, also a maximum fine of two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and supervised release for up to five years. So I'm not really sure why you would get released if it's I mean, I guess maybe they could sentence him to less than life in prison and then the supervised release for up to five years would tack on at that point. But if this guy walks. After a certain amount of time, like if he gets like a fifteen year sentence or a twenty year sentence or something, which like I don't know, I guess it could happen. Defense attorneys present evidence that he's insane, he didn't know what he was doing, and maybe the judge takes mercy on him and says, well, you're on medication now, and you know, fine, will let you out after thirty years or something. So that's the way that could go down. Now. The Republican Party did a news conference yesterday in Charlotte, once again focusing on public safety. Sometimes the right thing to do is the right politics. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. Just a quick drive up the mountain and cabins of Asheville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, maybe you want to plan a memorable propose, or get family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Centrally located between Ashville and the entrance of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. It's the perfect balance of seclusion and proximity to all the local attractions with hot tubs, fireplaces, air conditioning, smart TVs, Wi Fi grills, outdoor tables and your own private covered porch. Choose from thirteen cabins, six cottages, two villas, and a great lodge with eleven king sized bedrooms. Cabins of Ashville has the ideal spot for you for any occasion, and they have pet friendly accommodations. Call or text eight two eight, three six seven seventy sixty eight or check out all there is to offer at Cabins Offashville dot Com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. Oh, Randall dropped off. I was going to get to Randall. By the way, you disagree with anything I have to say, you are at the front of the line. That's always been the policy. I always prefer to take people that disagree with me. So no need to be afraid, be not afraid. Okay, I go to you always. Republican leaders and families of homicide victims are calling for change after a weekend of violence, which really could be just about any weekend in Charlotte now Mecklemburg County, Republican leaders did a press conference yesterday saying that the upcoming election is a time to bring in new leadership focused on public safety. Yeah, this would be the time to do it. Everybody. People who are sick and tired of crime, of feeling unsafe, or as the city officials will tell us, the perception of crime. It's your perception. You deluded people. You think you're unsafe when you're actually not because of social media. It's the media. To quote the philosopher Chris Rock, it's the media, right. The media is the one that robs you at gunpoint, at the ATM. Do people still use ATMs? Like I don't even see them anymore. Wait a minute, I'm trying to think of the last ATM I've actually seen, Like that was a pretty I mean as far as like you know, the the long arc of history, Like I remember when ATM's like this was going to be, these things were going to be everywhere. People were like, oh, I'm going to get an ATM machine. Like that's really the only place I see them now, right, it's at like pawn shops, vape shops, and convenience stores, the little ATMs and stuff. Anyway, I guess now everybody's just going digital, right Venmo. So the time to get tough on crime via new leadership, to send people into office with this as their priority is now for the city of Charlotte. Okay, this is the election coming up in a couple of days, Like we got what two weeks or so before the election. Democrats say they are also advocating for safety measures just through different avenues, which kudos to Katie Salt at WBTV for recognizing in this case at least, that just because people have different avenues to get someplace doesn't mean they necessarily disagree on the destination. This has been an argument that I have been making for thirty years. So when you know you have a difference of approach, you're like, hey, I want all kids to be at grade level in reading in math, and I think this is the best way we go about doing that. And then I am called all sorts of names because I don't agree with you and the path that you want to take to get to the same destination. Assuming that you're not lying that you want to go to the same destination of all kids being at grade level and reading in math or above. Right, assuming that we have the same goal, we're disagreeing on how best to achieve that goal, And so I don't call you names because you want to take this other route to get there. I disagree with that route, and I'm going to try to make the arguments against that path. But when I say I want to go this other path, and you say, well, Pete, you're a Nazi, you're a fascist, you're a racist, or a homophobe, or you hate children and you hate the poor, whatever, Like all of these ad hominem attacks that people have been throwing at conservatives for differences in policy approaches, differences in the avenues preferred. So I applaud the recognition that we're arguing over different courses to take, and maybe we could apply this very same logic to all other disagreements. How about that? Does that sound like a good idea? How about that? If we all agree that we want to live in a safe society, and you want to take path A, I want to take Path B, let's talk about why path A is better than B, and I'll talk about why B is better than A. And that can be the focus of the debate. But that means that you can't just like try to shout me down, tell me to shut up, call me a bunch of names, ostracize me just because I have a different approach. Right. Think of it like I am the little button you press on the Google Map, you know, on the alternate route. Right, Like you say, hey, I want to get here, I want to get home, and it gives you the route, and I come along and say, well, you know what, I would take this other route over here. I'm just offering this alternative route. Right. You don't call Google Maps racist, I don't know. Maybe you do, I don't know. But it's a non sequitur argument. It doesn't follow, okay, but again, just wanted to point out give credit to the reporter here for recognizing that they're just different avenues and maybe this standard this approach will also apply to Republicans when they disagree on the different avenue, like, for example, immigration, Hey, why don't we not have tons of illegal immigrants? Right? How about we enforce immigration law? We want immigrants to come, we want them to do so legally. Again, that's assuming that we both are okay with having a legal process, and we're like, you're not actually just covertly arguing for open borders. You know. Stories are powerful. They help us make sense of things, to understand experiences. Stories connect us to the people of our past while transcending generations. They help us process the meaning of life, and our stories are told through images and videos. Preserve your stories with Creative Video. Started in nineteen ninety seven and Minhill, North Carolina. It was the first company to provide this valuable service, converting images, photos and videos into high quality produced slide shows, videos and albums. The trusted, talented and dedicated team at Creative Video will go over all of the details with you to create a perfect project. Satisfaction guaranteed. Drop them off in person or mail them. They'll be ready in a week or two. Memorial videos for your loved ones, videos for versal dinners, weddings, graduations, Christmas, family vacations, birthdays, or just your family stories, all told through images. That's what your photos and videos are. They are your life told through the eyes of everyone around you and all who came before you, and they will tell others to come who you are. Visit creative video dot com. Let's head over to the phone lines and chat with Brian, my old friend Brian. How are you, Brian? Pretty good? Oh, you know, I'm okay. I'm all right. You got any big plans for Halloween? I'll just give out a little bit of candy and a home for the kids. Yeah. I love doing that. Do you do do you make them ring the bell or do you go like at the down to the drive or down at the end of the driveway. No, they come up back. I'd like to see the little kids in the costume, specially debabies. They so beautiful. I love to see what they what they wear. And so I get his I wonder I just scare him. Oh man, I so what my mom used to do for the older kids, she would make them stand back on the lawn and she would throw all the candy up in the air and make them have to pick up all the candy. Off the lawn. That was a riot in your front. That would have been yeah, exactly. Well, if we had the big candy bars, I think it might have been. Yeah, but we never did that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, So what's what's going on? Well, I was agreeing with you. I can't believe it, but I was agreeing with you about the process as far as when they're disagreeing or they want the same the same outcome but want to travel different streets for it. Yeah, you know what I mean. And so and so I think that that's that's that's the give and take pretty much of what our what our country is supposed to be about. But you know, and you and you said, you know, if you don't don't agree with me, you don't have to shout me down and call me this and call me that. But that is exactly what the president does. You know, he has note Takorum about that stuff. If you don't agree with him, then he's trying to do all kinds of stuff to you. Ridicu you all kinds of stuff. Yeah, I saw that in twenty fifteen during the Republican primary, where he would just make up all of these nicknames for all the Republicans, And yeah, I oppose that at the time. I did not like that approach at all. And I lost that. I lost that, but I lost the argument. I lost that debate. I lost it in the primary, and then when Trump won, I lost it in the general election as well. And now he's been part of our political scene for a decade. And you know, look, and there are people. I will tell you what the Trump supporters told me back when I was saying what you're saying. They told me that they have already been called all of these names they have from the left and the media. You know, Mitt Romney was the next hitler. John McCain was the next hitler, like everybody is always called all of these names. And they finally said, you know what, We're going to hire somebody that is now going to deal with our opponents in the manner in which they deal with us. Okay, So now let me ask you this then, because I believe the majority room, that's what our country is now. No, it's not no, it's not majority rules. That's why we have the electoral college. Well, okay, fine, but if I got more, if I got more Democrats in the in the House, in the Senate than what you have Republicans more so than than that of the Democrats are going to push their agenda, and they're going to have their agenda. Well, not in the Senate, not in the Senate. Right in the House, yes, you're correct, in the House, but over in the Senate. No, you get the legislative filibuster. And yeah, you need sixty votes, So you would have to get sixty either you'd have to elect sixty Democrats or you would need to get bipartisan support. Yeah, okay, well we'll put it this way. Trump running, we won a whole lot of states in this last election, right, yeah. As a matter of fact, what they call it is an overwhelming man date. Is that correct? Yeah, that's what the That's what Trump is saying. Yeah, yeah, that he has an over yeah, over woman mandate. But okay, if he had that in that election, why are the Republican Party now going back and trying to do all this redistrict key if he if he won all that, So that lets me know that the Republican Party knows that they have done a shabby job and they and they're about to be voted out. Okay now that. Yeah, sorry, so I can answer that for you. I mean, if you're actually asking me, like, do you want to know the explanation, let. Me ask you something. What am I asking you? What am I asking you? To make sure that you got the right question, because. Well, you you asked me like, then why are they doing the redistricting? That's what you asked me. If if it was a landslide victory as they called it. It wasn't a landslide. Nobody. I don't think anybody's saying a landslide because a landslide is generally ten percentage points. You said mandate. Now hang on, brien, Yeah, you said. They have an overwhelming mandate, right, and you're saying, hey, this is a land. No, those are different things. A landslide is ten percentage points margin of victory. That's yes, theoretical, that's not no, it's actually that's not that's not theoretical. That's actually very specific. It's very data driven. That's what the That's what a landslide means in political reporting at least so the But the the mandate that they're claiming is because they won all of the seven swing states, right, because all of the other states are you know, we know how they're going to break Republican or Democrat generally. So we had seven swing states. We thought there would be a split. That's where the battleground fight was. And Trump won all of those. That's why they call it a mandate. What's that with Texas a swing state? Was Texas a swing state? No? Texas is not a swing sta. So why why do you got to go and redistrict Chexas? Is North Carolina swing state? Yes? North Carolina is considered a swing state win since two thousand? Okay, yeah, right, yeah, and they change you know, swing states. You know what state is a swing state? It changes based on people themselves, right See so Brian, that's why. See this is why I asked you whether you actually wanted an answer to the question. So if you're yes, if you're asking me why the Republicans are redistricting, I'm happy to tell you the reasons why they're doing it. I know you're going to tell me some craps they redistrict. They tell you why becaucause they don't want him to lose the control of the House. And yes, no, no, that right. You don't have to tell me, they tell you, right. No, that's and that's what I was Yeah, that that is what I was going to say, Brian. Is that that's why they are doing it is to is to try to preserve the Republican majority in the US House. Because in the midtermin life cheating, man, it's not it's actually not cheating. Cheating is breaking the rules. No, Brian, cheating is breaking the rules, and no rules have been broken. Oh my god, why do you think California? Wait, Brian, why do you think, Brian? Why do you think California is putting a referendum to their voters to suspend their constitutional requirement for an independent redistricting commission. Well, why are they doing that? I don't live in California. I have no clue. Well, you don't live in Texas either, but you seem to know a lot about that, So California. No, I didn't. I just said I'm ask you because Texas was always in the news. Now California's not in the news like Texas. California, Actually, Brian, California is in the news because California, Brian, Brian, California, Brian, California is proceeding with its referendum because of what Texas did. California then know that. Okay, so you have heard of California in the news. Okay, good, so. The reason why? But Brian all, I'm saying, Brian, this is not going to be a got your point here. I'm I'm just letting you know that California is doing what it's I do. You just said you don't follow the news. You said you don't follow this stuff. You don't know this stuff. So I'm trying to give you the information. Don't ask me questions if you don't want the answers. No, you don't have the answers I do. You just keep talking and you ask these questions and you pose these k No, Brian, you pose you don't have it. I asked me, whyan I asked Brian. I asked you why is Brian? I asked you, Brian, I asked you why California is going ahead with its referendum? And you did not know, And so I was going to tell you why. So I know this piece of information. You do not know this piece of information which is relevant to the discussion, but you don't want to know the information, and it's not even that big of a deal. If you would just let me tell you. Are you gonna overtalk me? Yes, yes I will. It's my show. Brian. No, Brian, Brian, here's the thing. When you call up and ask me, see, why are you going to talk over me? Brian? Are you going to keep talking over it? Answer the question? No, you're not. No, you're not. You're not answering the question. I said. I was trying to, But you're not letting me know. Brian. Nobody's not letting you talk. You've been on the air now for almost nine minutes, okay, And I will tell you just. As a answer a question. What was the question? That's what was the question to you? The question to me that you put to me was that why was California doing what they're doing? And you said you didn't know, you don't live in California. I told you I didn't know, yes, because I wanted to hear what you had to do. Oh stop it, Brian, See this is Brian. Now you're just lying. Why do you got a deal in bad faith? We were having a perfectly nice conversation, Brian. All right, Brian, we're done. I was having a perfectly nice conversation with you about Halloween. Why couldn't you just because? And I did that purposely because I wanted to see if you could actually engage in a civil manner, in a good faith manner, and you did, see, so I know you have this ability, okay, but for some reason when it comes to the political issues, you just you cannot act in good faith. I asked you a question about California, and here's the thing. It wasn't even that big of a deal, but it is. It's illustrative of the breakdown here, which is I asked you why is California doing its referendum? And you said you didn't know, and then I was going to answer, and you just steamrolled and kept blabburn on, and now you claim that you do know. The only point I was making is California was proceeding with its referendum to remove the constitutional requirement that they have an independent redistricting commission do their maps. They're doing that because they're following the rules. See, California is following their rules, which is what you said you wanted Texas to do. And I brought up California as an example of a state following the rules, hence not cheating. If they were to cheat, they would just ignore the Independent Redistricting Commission and they would just draw the maps and break the law. But they're not doing that. They're following the. Rules, just like Texas is following the law the rules. They're not cheating either, North Carolina following our rules. We are allowed to do this, not cheating. That was the only point I was making. It's not even that big of a deal. But you just couldn't shut up long enough for me to just say that simple thing, and we could have proceeded on. Oh my goodness. All right, if you're listening to this show, you know I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, and I know you do too, And you've probably heard me say get your news from multiple sources. Why well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app and it's a website, and it combines news from around the world in one place, so you can compare coverage and verify information. You could check it out at check dot ground dot news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground News a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as an affiliate because lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check dot ground, dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. One other question that Brian asked, and this is this is like I've told Brian this before, I believe stop asking questions. Just make the assertion. Right, ask a question if you don't know the answer to it. But if you do know an answer to a question and you're simply using it as some sort of a rhetorical setup for an argument, we can move the conversation along much faster if you just make the assertion. But I understand a lot of people don't like doing that because then it puts a stake in the ground you know, you plant a flag there, and. Now you have to defend that position. And if you're just asking, then it allows you to kind of duck out after the answer comes in. So that's why. I've told Brian, just make the assertion, make the statement, you know, state your position. The answer to his question that he probably also knows the answer to on this one is why are the Republicans or why did Texas redistrict? And they're doing it to try to protect the House majority for the Republicans. And they've said that North Carolina lawmakers just redistricted for the exact same reason, and they said that. They've all said it, so nobody's hiding from it. Nobody's saying the quiet part out loud. Everybody's just saying, that's why we're doing it. Now, why are they doing it? Because number one, the party that controls the White House tends to lose in the midterms. That's the historical trend, and they are trying to to not have that trend realized again. Number Two, they know if Democrats take over the House, they're going to impeach Donald Trump for some other stuff, and they're going to lauch investigations. They're going to block his agenda. All of that. Number three, the census count in twenty twenty was error ridden. They undercounted red states, overcounted blue states, and finally, number four, they included in that census count a lot of illegal immigrants, which then puffed up the numbers for Democrats. That's the answer. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support them too and tell them you heard it here. You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.