A three-story portrait of a murdered Ukrainian refugee has appeared at 92 Jefferson Street, above Formosa, the Taiwanese dumpling spot dumpling spot and the neighborhood is divided.
The mural depicts Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old who fled Ukraine and was stabbed to death on a Charlotte light rail train in August 2025. Her killer had been arrested 14 times prior. Now her face watches over Jefferson and Evergreen, painted by Connecticut muralist Ben Keller in collaboration with local artist @hoacs.
It’s the second in what’s becoming a nationwide series. Keller described similar work in Washington DC as “honoring the life of Iryna Zarutska.” But the money behind it, and the politics, is what’s turning a memorial into a flashpoint.
On r/Bushwick, the reaction was immediate. “Elon Musk and Andrew Tate Backed Fascist Astroturfing on Jefferson and Evergreen,” reads the title of a post that’s received 348 up votes and over 700 comments.
The mural campaign was organized by Eoghan McCabe, CEO of tech company Intercom and a donor to President Trump’s campaign. McCabe pledged $500,000. Elon Musk added $1 million. Smaller donors contributed another $200,000, according to reporting by The New York Post.
Andrew Tate also publicly pledged $1 million, replying “Matched. 1M.” to Musk’s post, though it’s unclear if that pledge was received.
McCabe in an interview with the New York Post was explicit about his intentions.
“I started this campaign to make sure that the story of Iryna does not disappear,” he told The Post. “Her murder is at the nexus of many issues plaguing American society. For example, one is the progressive approach to crime.”
He elaborated: “The vast majority of violent crime is perpetrated by a very small fraction of the population. When cities refuse to incarcerate these people, they get a lot more violent crime. Iryna’s killer had been arrested 14 times before he executed her.”
McCabe has also called for “rapid, public executions” for similar crimes. “I do think that rapid, public executions for crimes like this are a spiritual goal that we should point ourselves towards,” he wrote on X in September. “I worry about Western society if we can’t react in proportion to how evil this is.”
That political framing is what’s driving the Reddit backlash. The poster argued the campaign uses Zarutska’s death to push anti-immigrant politics, writing that her cause “has been championed by Great Replacement touting anti immigrant fascists.”
McCabe dismissed the criticism.
“The campaign has received remarkably broad support across the political spectrum. We’re aware of very little discontent,” he told The Post.
The mural sits above Formosa, the Taiwanese dumpling restaurant at street level. Similar murals have gone up in Washington DC, Miami, and Los Angeles.
Keller hasn’t responded to the controversy. His Instagram posts stick to the work itself—progress shots, location tags, and that simple phrase: “honoring the life of Iryna Zarutska.
Featured Photo by @pixelatedstreets on instagram
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