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City’s Demand to Remove Iryna Zarutska Mural Speaks Volumes About the Left’s ‘Values’

CHARLOTTE, UNITED STATES - SEPTEMBER 22: Hundreds gather as the Mecklenburg County Republican Party holds a candlelight vigil for Iryna Zarutska. (Peter Zay/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Jarrett Stepman / @JarrettStepman

Jarrett Stepman is a columnist for The Daily Signal. He is also the author of "The War on History: The Conspiracy to Rewrite America's Past." Send an email to Jarrett

“We can agree, this mural behind us does not reflect Providence’s values.”

Can you guess what kind of mural doesn’t reflect the so-called “values” of Providence, Rhode Island according to a local Democratic politician?

The half-finished mural—reportedly backed by Elon Musk—now set to be removed is a depiction of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who was murdered by a deranged criminal with 14 prior arrests on a North Carolina train in August.

My painting of Iryna Zarutska that is being removed after the mayor has declared it divisive pic.twitter.com/Sr7m2UL4KI— Ian M Gaudreau (@IanGaudrea30195) April 1, 2026

My painting of Iryna Zarutska that is being removed after the mayor has declared it divisive pic.twitter.com/Sr7m2UL4KI

How could this possibly be controversial?

This viral story is instructive beyond the fate of the mural. It clarifies the Left’s understanding of justice, which in blue cities has enormous impact not just on public art but public policy and the law.

Here’s the news clip of Rhode Island state Rep. David Morales.

WATCH: Rhode Island state Rep. David Morales (D.) supports the removal of a mural honoring Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was fatally stabbed by a career criminal out on the streets thanks to soft-on-crime policies.Morales suggests the mural may make some Providence… pic.twitter.com/oaEI4iF0e2— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) March 31, 2026

He ironically notes that the people of Rhode Island want to feel “safe,” insinuating that the mural somehow makes them feel unsafe, a remarkable suggestion given that the woman depicted was murdered.

Shouldn’t Iryna have been kept safe? Shouldn’t governments be in the business of preventing citizens from being murdered?

It wasn’t just a single far-Left state representative who was apparently aggrieved by the mural.

Providence Mayor Brett Smiley, a Democrat, also said he was in favor of taking it down.

“The murder of the individual depicted in this mural was a devastating tragedy, but the misguided, isolating intent of those funding murals like the one across the county is divisive and does not represent Providence,” he said in a statement to Fox News. He further said that Providence should “support local artists whose work brings us closer together rather than divide us.”

Ah yes, the mean people supporting the murals are the real problem when they divisive things like pay tribute to a murdered woman.

You see, the Left is very much preoccupied with narratives, and what Americans think and feel about the case of what happened to Zarutska is quite problematic for them. They’d very much like the story to go away.

That very bad man Musk just won’t let this go, the nerve of him. Why won’t the world just be like how it is on Bluesky, where leftwing values are perpetually being enforced, dissenters are howled at and silenced, and “my truth” buries the truth when reality gets uncomfortable?

The way many of those on the Left see it, what happened to Zarutska was just a random, one-off event. It was a mere tragedy, like someone being struck by lightning.

You’d think that the fact that the young woman was a Ukrainian refugee would mean something. Aren’t they all about supporting Ukraine and refugees and all that? Not quite. In this case, the Left’s intersectional hierarchy determined how they would respond. Zarutska was white, and her alleged killer is black. This doesn’t fit the typical racial oppressor-oppressed dynamic they go for. In fact, just the opposite.

Making this story part of a “national conversation” might provoke more racism in this irredeemably racist country they no doubt believe.

Look, there’s no other way to see this than their “values” are anti-white. She was a murdered immigrant. If she were black or Hispanic, they would’ve been rioting in the street for her.We all know why they want her memory erased. https://t.co/OZTirmrWiE— Megan Basham (@megbasham) April 1, 2026

So if you support Iryna murals, then you are almost certainly a racist and a fascist, the Left’s thinking goes.

As Morales made clear in his statement, it’s more important in this line of reasoning for our society to be “safe” from uncomfortable narratives than to take the steps necessary to prevent the slaying of future victims.

You see, while most Americans knew or learned a valuable lesson following the death of George Floyd that a retreat from law enforcement is a recipe for a surge in crime, the Left’s activist and political class just can’t quit the “defund the police” ethos.

Even after all we’ve seen in the last few years, after one of the biggest crime spikes in American history, they still believe that law enforcement and systemic racism are the blights on our society. Racism is the “real” pandemic that never ends until everyone comes around to their point of view. Surely, if we became an “antiracist” society then crime, poverty, and sadness would go away, and we could abolish the prisons, and everyone would live in peace and harmony.

The Left’s political and activist class is clearly aggravated that after the Summer of Floyd and all that they did during the Great Awokening, more Americans now want stronger police enforcement and demand that dangerous, repeat criminals be taken off the streets.

As Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts noted, the Iryna murals are a reminder—and for leftists an infuriating reminder—that policies allowing higher levels of recidivism create more victims, of every ethnic and racial background.

Iryna’s death highlights the consequences of warped policies that keep violent criminals out of jail. Memorializing her reminds us that those policies create more victims and should be eliminated. Telling that those aren’t Rep. Morales’ “values.” https://t.co/AuNE9LtXVy— Kevin Roberts (@KevinRobertsTX) March 31, 2026

Many states are taking that lesson well. There’s been a renewed focus on variations of the “three strikes” laws that keep criminals off the streets. Iryna didn’t have to die. We do have the ability to keep good people safe and prevent heinous, similar murders from taking place in the future.

The Left would rather you stay in the dark and never even consider that it’s their warped views of justice and human nature that have led to so much misery and pain. That’s why they insist the Zarutska murals must be removed from the walls and the career criminals be unleashed on the streets.

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City’s Demand to Remove Iryna Zarutska Mural Speaks Volumes About the Left’s ‘Values’

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