CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina judge on Monday ordered a Honduran man to be held without bond in a non-fatal stabbing on a Charlotte commuter train that drew comments from President Donald Trump pointing out the suspect is in the country illegally.
Oscar Solarzano, 33, wearing an orange jumpsuit and appearing via video link, listened impassively as a translator read charges of attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon and others. Mecklenburg County District Judge Keith Smith scheduled his next hearing for Dec. 30.
The public defender in the courtroom declined to comment.
Solarzano, also known as Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, is charged with stabbing 24-year-old Kenyon Kareem Dobie in the chest during a fight Friday on the city’s Blue Line.
It was revealed in court that Solarzano — whose address listed in charging documents was a local homeless shelter — had been banned from Charlotte Area Transit Service property in October. CATS spokesman Brett Baldeck confirmed the ban, but did not have any further details. “Our security team is looking into this now,” Baldeck said.
The Department of Homeland Security says Solarzano had been deported twice and has previous convictions for robbery and illegal reentry, but details were not immediately available.
DHS, which recently conducted an immigration crackdown in Charlotte and around the state capital of Raleigh, has lodged a detainer with local authorities.
Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Dobie were unsuccessful. But he told WRAL that he confronted Solarzano for yelling at an older woman.
“I guess it’s better off that it happened to me and not an older person,” Dobie told the station.
“I wasn’t trying to be a macho man,” Dobie said in a TikTok post from his hospital room. “But what I won’t allow is you to attack random people for no reason, especially the elderly.”
The incident comes just a few months after a Ukrainian refugee riding one of the city’s trains was killed in an unrelated knife attack.
Iryna Zarutska, 23, had been living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to the U.S. to escape the war, her relatives said. Decarlos Brown Jr., has been charged with first-degree murder in state court, and was also indicted in federal court on a charge of causing death on a mass transportation system.
As with the Aug. 22 attack, President Donald Trump and others in his administration point to the incident as proof that Democratic-led cities are soft on crime.
“Another stabbing by an Illegal Migrant in Charlotte, North Carolina,” Trump commented Saturday about the latest stabbing on his Truth Social site. “What’s going on in Charlotte? Democrats are destroying it, like everything else, piece by piece!!!"
Although they have not responded directly to Trump, city officials have defended their efforts to keep the public safe.
“We have invested heavily in increasing security on our transit system and CMPD has been proactive in increasing its presence across our city, including announcing a new multi-agency effort this week,” Mayor Vi Lyles said on Saturday. “There are several aspects of public safety that are outside of the city’s jurisdiction, including immigration policy and enforcement, but we will continue to focus on public safety and ensuring a safe and vibrant community.”
Brent Cagle, CATS interim CEO, said the transit system has taken a “proactive and robust” safety approach since Zarutska’s stabbing, with extra off-duty police officers, private security and new technology.
“We will continue to work with our partners at CMPD as well as our private security team to ensure everyone rides appropriately on public transit,” he said. “We will not compromise on the safety of our customers and employees.”
Breed reported from Wake Forest, North Carolina.
This undated booking photo provided by the Mecklenburg County, N.C., Jail shows Oscar Solarzano, who was charged with stabbing a man on a light-rail train in Charlotte, N.C., on Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (Mecklenburg County, N.C., Jail via AP)
FILE - A Charlotte Area Transit System light rail departs a station, Sept. 8, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Erik Verduzco, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Paramount on Monday launched a hostile takeover offer for Warner Bros. Discovery, initiating a potentially bruising battle with rival bidder Netflix to buy the company behind HBO, CNN and DC Studios, and the right to reshape much of the nation's entertainment landscape.
Emerging just days after top Warner managers agreed to Netflix's $72 billion purchase, Paramount's bid seeks to go over the heads of those leaders by appealing directly to Warner shareholders with more money — $74.4 billion — and a plan to buy all of Warner's business, including the cable business that Netflix does not want.
Paramount said its decision to go hostile came after it made several earlier bids that Warner management “never engaged meaningfully” with following the company's October announcement that it was open to selling itself.
In its appeal to shareholders, Paramount noted its offer also contains more cash than Netflix's bid — $18 billion more — and argued that it's more likely to pass antitrust scrutiny from the Trump administration.
Netflix on Monday said it had no comment about Paramount's challenge. But on Friday, Netflix downplayed concerns that regulators would oppose a combination of Netflix and Warner’s HBO Max streaming business.
The fight for Warner drew strong reaction in Washington, with politicians from both major parties picking sides and citing the likely impact on streaming prices, movie theater employment and the diversity of entertainment choices and political views.
Over the weekend, President Donald Trump weighed in, too, saying a Netflix-Warner combo “could be a problem” because of the size of the combined market share.
Paramount, run by David Ellison, whose family is closely allied with Trump, said it had submitted six proposals to Warner over a 12-week period before the latest offer.
“We believe our offer will create a stronger Hollywood. It is in the best interests of the creative community, consumers and the movie theater industry," Paramount Chairman and CEO David Ellison said in a statement. He added that his deal would lead to more competition in the industry, not less, and more movies in theaters.
Adding to the political intrigue in the dueling bids, a regulatory document released Monday stated that an investment firm run by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner would be investing in the Paramount deal, too.
On Friday, Netflix struck its deal to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, the Hollywood giant behind “Harry Potter” and HBO Max. The cash and stock proposal is valued at $27.75 per Warner share, giving it a total enterprise value of $82.7 billion, including debt.
The transaction is expected to close in the next 12 to 18 months, after Warner completes its previously announced separation of its cable operations. Not included in the deal are networks such as CNN and Discovery.
The federal government has authority to kill any big media deals if it has antitrust concerns. Trump has said he will be personally involved in the decision regarding Warner Bros.
Usha Haley, a Wichita State University professor who specializes in international business strategy, said Paramount’s ties to Trump are notable. Ellison is the son of longtime Trump supporter Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person.
“He said he’s going to be involved in the decision. We should take him at face value,” Haley said of Trump. “For him, it’s just greater control over the media."
The bid for Warner Bros. comes on the heels of Paramount's October purchase of the news and commentary website The Free Press. Paramount then installed the site's founder, Bari Weiss, as the editor-in-chief of CBS News, saying it believes the country longs for news that is balanced and fact-based.
It was a bold step for the television network of Walter Cronkite, Dan Rather and “60 Minutes,” long viewed by many conservatives as the personification of a liberal media establishment. The network placed someone in a leadership role who has a reputation for resisting orthodoxy and fighting “woke” culture.
Paramount's tender offer is set to expire on Jan. 8 unless it's extended.
Shares of Warner Bros. jumped nearly 4%, and Netflix was down 4% Monday in early afternoon trading. Paramount was up 9%.
Associated Press writers Matt Sedensky, David Bauder and Charles Sheehan in New York contributed to this report.
The Warner Bros. water tower is seen at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Warner Bros. water tower is seen at Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, Calif., Friday, Dec. 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
