One of the primary lessons of 2025 is to never ride public transit in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On Wednesday, we got another MESS OF A STORY that illustrates that lesson.
Here's how it started:
Kenyon Dobie is a local from Charlotte who was riding the light rail on December 5th when he saw Oscar Solarzano, A TWICE-DEPORTED ILLEGAL ALIEN from Honduras with multiple previous arrests, including robbery, harassing passengers.
According to eyewitnesses, Solarzano was drunk and was harassing passengers.
Dobie told him to stop, Solarzano got in his face, Dobie pushed him, and then Solarzano stabbed him twice in the chest.
Fortunately, Dobie did not die, but was transported to the hospital. People from all over the nation heralded him as a hero, saying he is the shining example of manhood that America so desperately needs.
People donated more than $100,000 to Dobie as influencers shouted his praises like clapping seals:
Meanwhile, Not the Bee purposely paused on this story because our editors had a sneaking suspicion that the fanfare had more context (always wait for context).
Boy oh boy were we right.
From local reporter Joe Bruno of WSOC TV:
The victim he is accused of punching is a pregnant woman. Her facial bones were fractured and a warrant was issued for his arrest in November.
Dobie has 6 additional charges pending and is due in court on Thursday.
(If you donated to Dobie, you might want to take this into account.)
So why did this story go so viral so quickly?
It hit the perfect trifecta of cultural pressure points:
It involved the light rail in Charlotte where Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska had her throat slashed earlier this year.
It involved a story of heroism that has gotten increasingly rare after NYC charged hero Danny Penny with murder for stopping a bad guy on the subway.
It flipped the narrative on the idea that all black American males are violent.
As it turns out, the truth is much more complicated, and beyond parody at that.
If you want my opinion, a black guy getting arrested for punching a pregnant woman after being stabbed in the chest by a twice-deported Hispanic illegal on public transportation is the perfect summary for where America is at today.
😭😔
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