The nightmare at Brown University ended Thursday evening, December 18, 2025, when the suspected shooter, 48-year-old Claudio Neves-Valente, was found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound inside a storage unit in Salem, New Hampshire. Neves-Valente, a Portuguese national and former Brown student, killed two and critically wounded nine in the Barus & Holley engineering building on December 13 before fleeing. His death came six days into a manhunt that saw police detain and release an innocent man, stonewall on motive, and face backlash for a fake sign language interpreter at pressers. Now, President Trump has suspended the Diversity Visa Lottery program, blaming it for allowing Neves-Valente into the U.S. in 2017, when he received a green card. (Via Nick Sortor:
🚨 BREAKING: Face photo of Portuguese national Claudio Neves Valente, the suspected Brown University shooter
Here’s what we know:
– 48 years old
– NOT a U.S. citizen
– Green card holder from Portugal
– Once was a Brown University student
– Found dead in a Salem, NH storage unit… pic.twitter.com/aXjOx6j32U— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 19, 2025
Providence Police Chief remarks:
🚨 BREAKING: Brown University suspected shooter is a PORTUGAL NATIONAL, not a citizen, confirmed DEAD, and a student at Brown.
Claudio Neves-Valente, 48.
Portugal is the *same* country where the slain MIT professor is from, allegedly committed by Valente.
ABSOLUTE FAILURE!!! pic.twitter.com/PzNzp9zTFq
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) December 19, 2025
The image shows surveillance footage of Neves-Valente, circled in red, walking in what appears to be a public space—likely from the investigation. He’s in dark clothing, holding something in his hand, the kind of grainy shot that haunted the case until his body was discovered.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem announced the suspension, writing, “The Brown University shooter, Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, entered the United States through the diversity lottery immigrant visa program (DV1) in 2017 and was granted a green card. This heinous individual should never have been allowed in our country.” She cited the 2017 NYC truck attack by an ISIS terrorist who also entered via DV1, killing eight, as precedent for Trump’s push to end the program. “At President Trump’s direction, I am immediately directing USCIS to pause the DV1 program to ensure no more Americans are harmed by this disastrous program.”
This move comes as details emerge linking Neves-Valente to the murder of MIT professor Nuno F.G. Loureiro, also Portuguese, shot at his Brookline home on December 15. Initially denied, the connection now suggests a pattern—academic targets? The nine wounded at Brown are expected to survive, but the toll is heavy.
Trump’s decision is a direct response to a system critics say prioritizes diversity over security. Neves-Valente’s green card, despite his violent end, highlights the risks of random entries. This isn’t just policy; it’s personal for families of Ella Cook, 19, and Mukhammad Aziz Umurzokov, 18, demanding answers on why a non-citizen with apparent hate motive was here at all.
The left will cry “xenophobia,” but Trump’s right: American safety trumps global diversity quotas. Pray for the victims; may this tragedy spur real reform.
