EXCLUSIVE: Charlotte’s Sheriff McFadden Under Fire For Growing Corruption Scandal
'When public confidence erodes due to serious allegations of misconduct'
Charlotte school district attendance plummets after immigration raid, sparking concerns about illegal alien numbers
With the launch of Operation Charlotte's Web in North Carolina over the weekend, some have speculated that law enforcement has stumbled upon a large number of illegal aliens in a major city.
Social media was set ablaze on Monday and Tuesday as early reports were released about school attendance in one of the largest school districts in the country.
'President Trump and Secretary Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.'
On Monday night, WSOC-TV reporter Joe Bruno posted on X: "A spokesperson for Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools says unofficial attendance data from today indicates that approximately 20,935 students were absent from school today. This accounts for approximately 15% of students enrolled in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools."
Stephen Miller, the White House deputy chief of staff and homeland security adviser, highlighted the report, saying, "So a conservative estimate is that one-seventh of a major southern public school district is here illegally."
According to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools attendance data obtained by Blaze News, attendance did indeed drop precipitously on the Monday following the commencement of Operation Charlotte's Web.
Data from November 17 reveals that 30,399 students were absent, a number significantly higher than early reports suggested. Only 79.0% of the 145,030 students enrolled in the district attended school on Monday.
The vast majority of those absences, moreover — 28,136 — were marked as unexcused.
Blaze News also obtained data from the previous Monday.
On Nov. 10, 132,043 of the 144,909 students enrolled, or 91.1%, were in attendance. Only 12,866 students were absent, most, again, unexcused.
This constitutes a roughly 12% drop in attendance week over week, though there are likely other factors that contributed to this significant drop.
Operation Charlotte's Web, one of the Trump administration's latest immigration enforcement operations, was launched on Saturday. The operation is set to target Charlotte, North Carolina, a well-known sanctuary city where one out of every six residents was born in a foreign country.
"Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a press release Saturday. “We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed. There have been too many victims of criminal illegal aliens. President Trump and Secretary Noem will step up to protect Americans when sanctuary politicians won’t.”
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Alleged shoplifter caught on video brutally beating 18-year-old supermarket employee who confronted him: 'Senseless'
An alleged shoplifter in a North Carolina supermarket was caught on surveillance video brutally beating an employee who confronted him.
Detectives from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department are working to identify two individuals involved, WBTV-TV reported.
'When we have self-checkouts, it just presents an opportunity for people who are not doing the right thing, thieves, to take items and commit crimes.'
Police told the station the physical attack took place Oct. 20 at the Food Lion in the 2200 block of Park Road in Charlotte.
Two people were in the self-checkout area of the supermarket attempting to steal items when an 18-year-old Food Lion employee confronted them, Detective Ashley Phillips told WBTV.
Surveillance video showed one of the alleged shoplifters speaking with the employee and then walking with the employee into a back room, the station said.
Another surveillance camera captured the attack in the back room. Video shows one of the suspects grabbing the employee in the neck and chest area and slamming the employee against a large container against a wall, punching the employee, and then appearing to stomp the employee on the floor.
Surveillance video then shows the two alleged shoplifters leaving the Food Lion with the stolen items following the beating, WBTV reported.
“It’s unfortunate. Any act of violence is senseless,” Phillips told the station. “When we have self-checkouts, it just presents an opportunity for people who are not doing the right thing, thieves, to take items and commit crimes.”
Phillips added to WBTV that employees who witness illegal activity in the workplace shouldn't attempt to intervene.
“We want to suggest to everyone that is in a store working as an employee, just step back and observe, then collect as much information as you can and call 911 so that way police can respond, and you don’t have to interfere with someone committing a crime," she noted to the station.
Phillips added to WBTV that she's hopeful someone will recognize the alleged shoplifters through the surveillance videos and still images: "They’re very clear. I’m hoping that someone will see it and call it in. We get some good tips, and I’m very grateful for that."
Those with information about the Food Lion incident are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 704-334-1600, the station said, adding that tipsters can remain anonymous and receive a cash reward if they have information that leads to an arrest. Community members can also submit tips about crimes through the P3 Tips app, WBTV noted.
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Charlotte stabbing victim's family speaks out: 'This could have been anyone'
The family of stabbing victim Iryna Zarutska says she texted her boyfriend that she was on her way home on the night of her death.
Zarutska was stabbed to death on August 22 on a Lynx Blue Line train in the south end of Charlotte in a brutal murder that resulted in blame being levied at not only the accused, Decarlos Brown Jr., but also the judicial system.
Brown has a lengthy rap sheet, and a woman believed to be his sister has claimed he has never received proper help for his mental conditions.
'This could have been anyone riding the light rail that night.'
Speaking through an attorney, Zarutska's family decided to speak out on Tuesday about the awful incident.
"We are heartbroken beyond words. Iryna came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way," the family said, according to WSOC-TV's Hunter Saenz. "No family should have to go through this."
"This could have been anyone riding the light rail that night,” Saenz said the family also expressed. "We are committed to making sure this never happens again."
Adding to the tragic evening was the way the Zarutska family became aware of the victim's death.
RELATED: Iryna Zarutska’s name should shame the woke
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The family stated that on the night in question, Zarutska texted her boyfriend that she was going to be home soon. Sadly, her family became worried when she did not get to her apartment at the "anticipated time."
So the family checked Zarutska's phone location, which showed her still at the train station. The family hurried to the station, but upon arrival, the attorney said, the family was "devastated to learn that Iryna had died at the scene."
The family is also reportedly seeking changes to the way the Charlotte rail system is operated, pointing to what they believe to be failures that contributed to Zarutska's death.
These included: "a lack of visible or effective security presence," a failure in oversight in the contracts of professional security services, and an "absence of adequate safety measures that could have prevented this tragedy."
According to reporter Saenz, the family is also calling on Charlotte city officials to "publicly address their failures and enact reform."
They are also asking for full investigations by the responsible security teams, while hoping the public and media can "show restraint and compassion" by not further spreading the footage of the tragic killing.
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